Kessel leads Pens past Jackets in OT
PITTSBURGH -- A goal at 3:15 of overtime by Phil Kessel gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena Friday.
Working on the lone power play of the contest Kessel dealt a pass from the high slot to defenseman Kris Letang in the right circle. Letang swatted a one-timer, which was blocked by Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner. The puck deflected to Kessel low in the right circle. He was able to chip a wrister past the glove hand of Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
The goal was Kessel's second of the game. Nick Bonino and Patrick Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins (32-13-5) while Matt Murray made 28 saves.
Brandon Dubinsky, Alexander Wennberg and Cam Atkinson scored for the Blue Jackets (32-12-5) and Bobrovsky made 29 saves.
Kessel opened the scoring at 13:37 of the first period. Capitalizing off strong shifts in the offensive zone by Pittsburgh's third and fourth lines, Kessel controlled the puck on the left half wall, circled around the top of the zone and released a wrister from above the right circle that beat Bobrovsky's glove hand on the near side.
The Penguins made it a 2-0 game at the 18:28 mark. After Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski bobbled a puck at his own blue line, Pittsburgh center Matt Cullen jumped on the puck and surged past defenseman Dalton Prout. As Prout hauled him down near the crease, Cullen was able to push a forehand shot on net which Bobrovsky initially stopped.
Cullen re-directed the puck back on net with his right skate and, as it approached the goal line, Hornqvist swiped the puck into the vacant cage.
The Blue Jackets got on the scoreboard at 15:43 of the second period. Off a two-on-one rush, center Boone Jenner lifted a wrister from the right circle. Murray made the initial save but couldn't corral the rebound. Dubinsky settled the puck to the left of the crease and lifted a wrister past a scrambling Murray.
Pittsburgh regained a two-goal lead 2:40 later. Working the puck up the left wing, Jake Guentzel sent a pass from the half wall to the right of the crease for Nick Bonino. Fending off defenseman Jack Johnson, Bonino settled the puck and flicked a forehand shot over Bobrovsky's left pad.
It took only 29 seconds for the Blue Jackets to make it a 3-2 game early in the third period. Working a puck up the left wing, defenseman Seth Jones flicked a backhanded pass toward the crease. Left winger Brandon Saad settled the puck and dealt it to his right for Wennberg, who ripped a wrister past Murray's blocker on the far side.
The Blue Jackets tied the game at the 11:20 mark. Settling a loose puck in the right circle, Dubinsky backhanded it to the left of the crease. Atkinson deflected the puck up and swatted it out of mid-air past Murray's right leg.
NOTES: Penguins G Matt Murray started his eighth consecutive game. G Marc-Andre Fleury has not played since a 6-3 road loss to the Red Wings on Jan. 14. ... Pittsburgh C Matt Cullen returned to the lineup after missing six games due to a foot injury. ... Penguins RW Phil Kessel appeared in his 800th career game. ... The Penguins' scratches were RW Tom Kuhnhackl and D Chad Ruhwedel. ... The Blue Jackets played their second of three consecutive games against Metropolitan Division opponents. They defeated the New York Rangers on the road, 6-4. On Saturday, they host the Devils. ... The Blue Jackets' scratches were D Markus Nutivaara and D David Savard. Nutivaara has missed eight games due to an undisclosed ailment. Savard has been sidelined five of the past six games due to an undisclosed injury.