Blue Jackets 2, Penguins 1
PITTSBURGH -- Right winger Brandon Saad benefitted from a lineup change Columbus expected to make but didn't, getting a goal and an assist in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.
Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky improved to 6-2 against Pittsburgh -- he once played in the same division while with the Philadelphia Flyers -- with 28 saves. He was denied his first shutout since April 8 when Patric Hornqvist deflected defenseman Kris Letang's slap shot with 58 seconds to go, the right winger's fourth goal in seven games.
Hornqvist initially appeared to have tied it with 14 seconds remaining, but it was quickly he kicked the puck into the net.
The Blue Jackets came into Consol Energy Center with an NHL-worst 4-12 record -- and without center Brandon Dubinsky, an unexpected late scratch with an upper-body injury -- but still defeated the Penguins for the fourth time in five games.
The Penguins had won 10 of 12 and were coming off a 4-3 shootout win Wednesday over the Montreal Canadiens, who own the league's best record, only to go 0-for-6 on the power play.
Saad, a Pittsburgh native, assisted on left winger Scott Hartnell's sixth goal in eight games 11:08 into the second period, then scored his first career goal against the team he grew up watching 1:41 later on a power play. The Blue Jackets had led 2-0 only once previously during a season that began with an eight-game losing streak.
The Blue Jackets are 0-6 at home, but are 5-3 on the road under new coach John Tortorella, who planned to sit down defenseman Ryan Murray, a combined minus-4 in his previous two games. But when Dubinsky couldn't go, Murray stayed in and defenseman Dalton Prout played as a fourth-line forward.
Murray made a major contribution, too, backhanding a pass to the slot so Saad could put his own backhander under the crossbar past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on the power play -- with center Evgeni Malkin off for tripping. Fleury, who played a strong game with 26 saves despite the result, denied Saad a second goal by stopping him on a 2-on-1 break during the third period.
Just before, Hartnell put Columbus up with his eighth goal of the season, putting in a rebound near the right post following a scramble in front created by defenseman Cody Goloubef's slap shot from above the circles.
NOTES: Blue Jackets D Ryan Murray was expected to be a healthy scratch despite being third on the team with an average ice time of 20:36. He was a minus-2 in each of the previous two games, and coach John Tortorella felt he would benefit by sitting. However, C Brandon Dubinsky was unexpectedly scratched with an upper body injury, so Murray dressed.... Unhappy with his team's puck placement at times during the 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, Tortorella made players do push-ups in practice when he committed a mistake. Two Murray mistakes led to goals in that game. ... Penguins coach Mike Johnston kept his lines the same as they were in the 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, with RW Patric Hornqvist still on the third line despite three goals in six games. ... Johnston returned to a top defensemen pairing of Kris Letang and Olli Maatta, who began the season together. Letang and former partner Ian Cole each came in at minus-11; Maatta was a plus-11. ... Johnston initially split them up because of concerns about the extended ice time Letang's partner gets. ... The Penguins also scratched D Adam Clendening and LW Sergei Plotnikov.