Heading into Easter Sunday, the Columbus Blue Jackets trailed the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 in their playoff series after dropping both games in Pittsburgh. Columbus would need to find some life at home in Nationwide Arena.
The Jackets started the game off in a way that no one expected but nonetheless was a welcomed sight for the fans in attendance, as Cam Atkinson scored just eleven seconds into the game off a rebound attempt from Brandon Dubinsky’s original shot attempt. The Jackets wouldn’t hold the initial lead long, as Jake Guentzel scored for Pittsburgh at the 3:17 mark of the first period after finding the puck off the end board and beating Bobrovsky to his right side for the score.
From there, Atkinson would strike again and Zach Werenski would join him with two consecutive goals. Atkinson would pickpocket Sidney Crosby and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a backhand to put the Jackets up 2-1 at the 5:02 mark. Werenski’s goal to push it to 3-1 would come at the 6:10 mark on a power play caused by a Matt Cullen slashing penalty. Werenski would fire a shot from the left faceoff circle to score on the power play and Nationwide Arena was full of jubilation.
In the second frame, Bryan Rust would pull Pittsburgh within one with two goals in the frame. His first goal at the 5:21 mark was a follow-up that he got to before Sergei Bobrovsky could gobble it, making it 3-2. The goal at the 13:25 mark would come on an awkward and now controversial play, as he went backdoor to beat Bobrovsky after many felt the play should’ve been stopped following Zach Werenski getting hit in the face by a puck. Werenski laid on the ground bleeding while play continued, which eventually led to Werenski getting off the ice as quickly as he could.
Pittsburgh and Columbus would exchange goals in the third to make it a 4-4 game. Guentzel would get his second goal of the game at the 11:48 mark of the third on a power play caused by a Dubinsky cross-checking. Guentzel would battle in the crease and find the puck off the end board and squeak it past Bobrovsky to make it a 4-3 Penguins lead. Dubinsky would make up for his penalty by scoring the equalizer for Columbus at the 15:11 mark. Dubinsky came down the slot and was in the right place at the right time to put home the puck after a Jack Johnson shot attempt.
The teams would head into overtime and would play nearly a full O period before Guentzel would score the hat trick at the 13:10 mark to give the Penguins the win. All the attention was on Sidney Crosby behind the cage and Crosby took advantage of that, delivering the puck to Guentzel in the low slot to make the Blue Jackets pay for ignoring him.
The Penguins take the 5-4 overtime win and extend their series lead to 3-0 over Columbus.
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