With the Penguins struggling to score goals over the last few weeks, a 2-0 lead midway through Saturday afternoon’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets seemed to be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Instead, it was the Penguins defense, which has kept them in so many games lately, that faltered, giving up four consecutive goals en route to a 5-3 loss in Columbus. The Blue Jackets have now won nine consecutive games.
The Penguins build their lead with an up-tempo offense that saw the defense jumping into the play frequently in the early going.
Ian Cole intercepted a Brandon Dubinsky pass as the Blue Jackets captain was trying to clear his defensive zone. Cole then chipped it past Dubinsky to Patric Hornqvist, who was behind the Columbus defense. Hornqvist quickly whipped to it Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who buried a shot past Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to score his 27th goal of the season and give the Pens a 1-0 lead.
Cole again made a nice play early in the second period, when he found Brandon Sutter in the left wing faceoff circle. Sutter fired a seemingly harmless shot toward the Columbus goal, but Steve Downie drove to the front of the net, taking Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson with him. Johnson inadvertently interfered with Bobrovsky, allowing Sutter’s shot to go in.
After that, it was all downhill for the Penguins. The attacking style that had suited them so well in the early going backfired, with their defense turning the puck over, and it frequently ending up in the back of their net.
Nick Foligno scored the first of his career-high three goals at 16:25 of the second to get the Blue Jackets on the board. Matt Calvert followed up with the game-tying tally just two minutes later on a shift where Columbus had three or four grade-A scoring chances.
The third period was no friendlier to the Penguins, with Foligno scoring after yet another Penguins turnover at 6:46 on a tap in from a Dubinsky pass.
At 9:29, Scott Hartnell scored what would be the game-winning goal in controversial fashion. A Marko Dano shot ricocheted around the Penguins crease, finally coming to rest alongside the arm of Marc-Andre Fleury. Crosby appeared to have the puck frozen against the arm of Fleury, but the whistle was not blown and Hartnell pitchforked the puck into the net to give the Blue Jackets a 4-2 lead.
Ben Lovejoy would get the Pens back to within one with a slap shot at 10:10 of the third, but they were unable to push another one past Bobrovsky to tie the game.
Foligno capped of his first career hat trick with an empty net goal – his 30th of the season – at 19:03.
The shots on goal were fairly even, with the Penguins narrowly outshooting the Blue Jackets 36-35. Each team went 0-for-3 on the power play.
The Penguins will be right back in action on Sunday, as they travel to Philadelphia for a 12:30 p.m. Easter Sunday start against the Flyers.
Photo credit: NHLI/Getty Images
