COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penguins overcame a third-period deficit Sunday to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, at Nationwide Arena. It was their second consecutive win.
During the third period, with the Penguins on a power play, Evgeni Malkin finished off a gorgeous passing sequence to tie the score, 2-2, with 8:06 remaining.
Malkin’s goal was made possible by a savvy decision by Mike Sullivan. The coach called timeout midway through the power play to give his top players a breather and a chance to regroup. The Penguins took advantage 23 seconds later.
Then with 2:14 left in the game, Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal. He bounced off big Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzlikins and hammered home a loose puck. The goal was confirmed after a failed challenge by the Blue Jackets.
That was a quality victory for the visitors considering the circumstances.
When the puck dropped in Columbus, the Penguins were 27 hours removed from a 1-0 victory against the New York Rangers that was one of their most emotionally and physically demanding games of the season. Mustering a similar effort on the road against a rested Blue Jackets squad proved to be a difficult task.
But the Penguins got the job done. Other than a few breakdowns, they put forth another stingy effort defensively against a Blue Jackets team that had picked up steam since they last faced off. Entering Sunday, the Blue Jackets were 9-3-0 in their past 12 games, averaging 4.3 goals per game over that span.
Sullivan noted before the game that the Penguins would have to be careful against a Columbus team that is dangerous when given chances to counterattack.
“They have some dynamic offensive players and it’s going to be important for us to make it hard game for them,” he said. “If mismanage the puck and they’re getting some easy looks off the rush, they have guys that can make you pay.”
The Blue Jackets did try to push the pace and often had the Penguins scrambling back. But the Penguins were able to keep the home team largely in check.
In the first two periods, they just couldn’t convert their chances against Merzlikins. He was at his best in the second. On one play, he stopped all three members of the top line in quick succession. Later, he did the splits to deny Brian Dumoulin.
A lack of scoring, particularly at 5-on-5, has been an issue for the Penguins over the past 10 days. They had just a single goal in three of their past four games entering Sunday. And the top line and power play did most of the limited damage.
Attempting to find a fix, Sullivan has been tinkering with their middle six.
“We’ve been moving guys around a little bit to try to see what sort of chemistry might develop. … We’ll continue to move guys around until we discover something. But guys are going to get opportunities to step up and help us,” he said.
Their first goal at 5-on-5 was a fluky one from Chad Ruhwedel. He threw it on net from the right wall and it hit a Columbus defender and dropped in.
Kasperi Kapanen was awarded an assist on the scoring play — his first point in more than a month. The floundering forward had gone 13 games without one.
DeSmith made 32 saves to get win — and a little bit of redemption here.
Five weeks ago, DeSmith started in a similar spot, though he was only a few days removed from a bout with COVID-19 and therefore pretty rusty. After he let a pair of stoppable shots squeak through him, DeSmith got a quick hook.
Afterward, Sullivan accepted responsibility for DeSmith’s rocky outing, saying that he put the goalie in a difficult spot. But the poor performance was part of a bigger trend for DeSmith. Once a rock-solid backup, he had become a liability.
DeSmith picked up his play a bit since that Jan. 21 game, which Tristan Jarry won in relief. He was 2-0-1 with a .931 in his past four games entering Sunday.
“He’s made a lot of traction just with his overall game,” Sullivan said before the game. “He’s working extremely hard in practice with Andy Chiodo and keeping himself ready for when he gets the nod. So we think he’s getting better and better with, with each start that he gets. … We know he’s very capable.”
Columbus scored the first goal Sunday but you couldn’t pin it on DeSmith. Dumoulin was puck-watching and lost track of Oliver Bjorkqvist, who teed up for a cross-rink pass from Jack Roslovic and blew a one-timer by DeSmith.
Midway through the second period, Roslovic whipped a wrist shot from the right dot over DeSmith’s shoulder to put the Blue Jackets back ahead, 2-1.
They came excruciatingly close to pushing it to 3-1 in the third period but Mark Friedman, getting a chance to play with Mike Matheson injured, scurried back to swat a skittering puck off the goal line. Malkin made it 2-2 moments later.
The Penguins are off until Thursday, when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning.
