Penguins at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets won’t be going to the playoffs, but they are sure causing trouble for teams who are headed to the postseason lately. The Blue Jackets look to extend their winning streak to a franchise-record nine contests Saturday afternoon when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins while center Ryan Johansen tries to increase his point streak to 10 games.
The Blue Jackets are averaging four goals during their surge and six of the wins have come against teams either in the postseason or still battling for a spot. The Penguins dropped into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and trail both Washington and the New York Islanders by a point for second place in the Metropolitan Division after going 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. Pittsburgh dropped a 4-1 decision to Philadelphia on Wednesday and four of its final five games are on the road. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby leads the league in scoring and has posted two goals and four assists during a four-game point streak.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, SNET-360, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (42-24-11): Crosby is the only player in the NHL that has reached 80 points and he will try to carry the Penguins to the postseason along with Evgeni Malkin (70), who is still questionable with an undisclosed injury. Pittsburgh has managed only 15 goals in the last 10 games and won’t have offensively-gifted defenseman Kris Letang (concussion). Chris Kunitz is also in the middle of a drought with one goal in 16 games while fellow forward Patric Hornqvist boasts 14 points in 14 contests.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (38-35-4): Johansen has totaled 12 points during his nine-game run and tops the team with 69 – two better than Nick Foligno, who has registered 12 in the last 15 contests. Scott Hartnell has also played a major part in the Blue Jackets’ resurgence, notching 11 goals and five assists in his past 16 outings. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is 11-1-0 in his last 12 decisions while allowing two or fewer goals in seven of those starts - and facing 40 or more shots four times during that span.
OVERTIME
1. Penguins RW Steve Downie, who leads the league with 232 penalty minutes, has scored 14 goals – the second most in his career behind his 22 with Tampa Bay in 2009-10.
2. Columbus RW Cam Atkinson has 20 goals – seven in the last 11 contests – and is one shy of tying his career high from last season.
3. Pittsburgh F Daniel Winnik has seven points and a plus-5 rating in 16 games since being acquired from Toronto.