The Pittsburgh Penguins (10-6-0, 20 pts) lost a tight inter-division matchup Friday night 2-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets (5-12-0, 10 pts) in a disappointing effort against the NHL’s worst club.
Columbus entered the game as the only team without double-digit points in the standings, but a two-goal second period and a quality effort by Pittsburgh native Brandon Saad were enough to get the Blue Jackets a road victory inside Consol Energy Center.
Saad, a Pine Richland High School alum, assisted the game’s first goal, scored at 11:08 of the middle period by Scott Hartnell, his eighth of the season. Less than two minutes later, Saad netted one of his own on a Columbus power play, putting his team ahead by two in a matter of minutes after the first period and a half had gone scoreless.
Pittsburgh was unable to get anything behind Sergei Bobrovsky despite several power play opportunities and a handful of quality shots gone just wide or off the post. And then, with an empty net just two seconds inside the final minute of regulation, a Kris Letang shot was deflected in by Patric Hornqvist in front of the net, his fourth of the season. Suddenly, it was 2-1 Blue Jackets and the Penguins kept the pressure on.
With under 15 seconds remaining, it appeared that Hornqvist scored again on a scrum in front of Bobrovsky’s net, but the game-tying goal was quickly waved off by officials. After a brief review, the ruling that Hornqvist had made a kicking motion to put the puck in the net was upheld and Columbus hung on for the victory.
Bobrovsky made 28 saves on 29 shots and Marc-Andre Fleury, who had made a number of quality saves in the third period to keep his team in the game, finished with 26 saves on 28 shots.
Pittsburgh finished 0-6 on the power play and is now just 7-46 on the season, ranked second from last in the Eastern Conference. Only Carolina is worse with the man advantage at this point in the year.
The loss was the Penguins second in three games, though the team has notched seven wins in nine games and currently sits with the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference. Friday’s loss was the first home defeat since October 22 against Dallas. Pittsburgh is now 5-3 at home and is also 5-3 on the road. This was Columbus’ third win in five games and it ended a two-game losing skid.
On Saturday, Pittsburgh heads across the state to hit the ice in New Jersey. The Devils (9-6-1, 19 pts) host a Metropolitan Division matchup at 7 pm at Prudential Center in Newark.
