The Pittsburgh Penguins were buried in their own zone for long stretches Friday night, yet somehow dragged themselves to a point before Columbus finished the job in the shootout, 3-2 at Nationwide Arena.
By the end of the second period, the Blue Jackets had piled up a 27-6 shot edge and a 54-14 advantage in shot attempts. Pittsburgh looked disjointed, slow and constantly a step behind. But the Penguins still found a way to claw back, riding a big night from rookie goalie Sergei Murashov and a pair of Bryan Rust goals to force overtime.
Murashov was the reason this game even reached extra time. He turned aside 40 of 42 shots in regulation and finished with 43 saves on 45 shots overall. He also shut the door on a two-on-none in overtime with a sharp kick-save that cleared the puck away from danger, then robbed Zach Werenski from close range in the final seconds of OT.
Rust gave Pittsburgh its first spark late in the second period with the play the Penguins call “The Rusty.” Coming down the left side, he swept toward the net and extended around Columbus goalie Cam Talbot to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 14:30 of the second period. He used the same kind of finish for the second time in two games.
That goal seemed to wake Pittsburgh up. The Penguins had spent much of the night looking like “Boris Karloff’s heavy-footed Frankenstein,” but Rust’s finish helped them finally get emotionally engaged.
The comeback continued shortly after. Evgeni Malkin intercepted a clear, Pittsburgh stayed on the attack, Rickard Rakell swatted a rebound into traffic at the net, and Malkin finished the play for the 2-2 tie.
Columbus had opened the scoring at 10:52 of the first period when Zach Werenski pushed the puck into the zone with speed and the Penguins collapsed around the cage. That left Damon Severson alone in the left circle, and he hammered home a one-timer for a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Jackets added another before the intermission in the second period. Mathieu Olivier’s wrist shot from about 30 feet hit the post behind Murashov and caromed off the Penguins goalie for the 2-0 advantage at 11:40.
Pittsburgh’s shootout issues surfaced again after overtime. Kent Johnson scored for Columbus, while Rickard Rakell, Connor Garland, Egor Chinakhov, Charlie Coyle and Ben Kindel were all stopped. The Penguins fell 1-0 in the shootout and settled for one point.
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