Penguins 4, Blue Jackets 3 - Final - 10-30-09
PREGAME
Hey. Guess where we are:
-Greetings from a fantastic day in Columbus. It's 80 degrees, a little windy and there's not a cloud out. This is an amazing day for any season, let alone mid fall.
-Some sights from our ride out this afternnoon. Downtown Columbus:
-Lots of these ugly, red, overrated stickers in town:
-Lots of these in town too:
-There's a pregame picnic/festival going on outside of Nationwide Arena. They couldn't pick a better day for it. :
-The area around the arena is very well developed. Lots of restaraunts and bars and other places for fans to hang out and have fun before and after events here:
-We really dig how a lot of the road and walkways around this facility were created out of brick:
-Hopefully, the area around Consol Energy Center can flourish as well as this.
-A Darius Kasparaitis jersey:
-A Mario Lemieux Wales Conference jersey:
-The ice:
-A Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins jersey:
-This jersey also had a patch from the 2001 AHL All-Star game:
-The cannon they have here for all the Blue Jackets goals:
-Some Penguins fans posing with the cannon firing dude:
(Was there any sort of military rank for someone who fired a cannon back in the day?)
(The reason our cannon photo is blurry is because the cannon dude told us not to get in front of it. It was loaded.)
-There's a jersey for former Blue Jackets and former Penguins forward Tyler Wright on display here:
-The stick used by former Penguins goaltender Ron Tugnutt in Columbus' first home shutout is on display as well:
-A Flyers fan with a Blue Jackets hat:
-It's a jersey foul on account of the mixing of team logos, but having a Flyers jersey at a Penguins game is fair game based on the Third Party Rule.
-The Blue Jackets allow high school teams to sell 50/50 raffle tickets here in the arena. Tonight the Newark Generals are raising some funds:
-Classy move by the Blue Jackets to let these teams do that.
-The hat trick bin will all the hats collected over the years:
-This was the ramp to the Blue Jackets' locker room roughly one hour before the game:
(Notice the Ben Roethlisberger jersey.)
-This was the Penguins' ramp:
-Grey Cup foul:
-Here's the practice rink adjacent to the arena:
-They like their Civil War hats here:
-No idea who this guy is rooting for:
-Walking in from Front Street:
-A Mike Rupp jersey with an autograph:
-Just like at Mellon Arena, high school jerseys are on display here:
-This gentleman wasn't aware that Bowling Green is Dan Bylsma's alma mater:
-We assume this Sidney Crosby fan whacked this Henrik Zetterberg fan in the shins:
-Syl Apps, Jr.:
-Warm ups:
-Tons of Penguins fans here:
-This photos isn't really representative of that, but we'll give a generous estimate of this place being 40 percent Penguins fans.
-The Penguins' scratches are Mark Letestu, Tyler Kennedy and Evgeni Malkin.
-The Blue Jackets' scratch is Nikita Filatov.
-Your starting goaltenders are Brent Johnson and Steve Mason
FIRST PERIOD
19:42: "LET'S-GO JACK-ETS! LET'S-GO JACK-ETS!"
19:18: "LET"S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
19:00: Jordan Staal takes a shift with Ruslan Fedotenko and Chris Bourque.
18:21: Matt Cooke rattles a Blue Jackets player in the corner in Columbus' zone. During a stoppage, the Columbus player (sorry, we couldn't identify him), has words with Cooke at center ice. Officials break it up. Cooke is on the ice with Craig Adams and Pascal Dupuis.
17:42: Michael Blunden is nabbed for high sticking. Sidney Crosby takes the ice with Bill Guerin, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski and Chris Kunitz taking the place of Evgeni Malkin.
16:20: Fedotenko puts a shot on net from the left wing, Mason fights it off. A teammate is able to push the pukc down ice to kill time.
15:47: R.J. Umberger pushes the puck up ice to kil time, He tries to split Eaton and Bourque. Bourque trips him up. That's two minutes for hooking. Four-on-four for five seconds.
15:42: Blunden's penalty is killed. Cooke, Adams, Brooks Orpik and Martin Skoula are on to kill Bourque's penalty.
14:39: Pascal Dupuis sneaks down the left wing and rips a wrister high of the cage.
14:22: Rick Nash cuts from the right wing and snaps a wrister on net. Johnson is able to kick it away.
13:59: Adams drives the puck up the left wing. He dishes a pass to Dupuis cutting to the net. Dupuis is able to backhand a shot low. Mason knocks it dead and covers to freeze play.
13:47: Bourque's penalty is killed. The Penguins gave up more than a few chances there.
12:44: Rupp jumps on a lose puck on the left wing, moves towards the net and snaps off a wrister. Mason makes the save. There's a mad scramble for the rebound which kicks out to the left point. McKee jumps on that and snaps off a wrister which Mason
11:54: Kristian Huselius is able to backhand a puck to Antoine Vermette on the left wing. Vermette has a pretty nice chance but is denied by Johnson's who is able to slide over and make a fine save.
11:21: Dupuis gets knocked down with a nice check in front of the penalty boxes.
10:41: Matt Cooke is nabbed for high sticking Umberger. That's two minutes. Kunitz, Crosby, Eaton and McKee are on for the power play.
9:59: Anton Stralman can't keep a puck in the offensive zone at the left point. It slides down to the Columbus zone. That allows the Penguins to switch lines. Dupuis, Adams, Orpik and Goligoski take the ice.
8:41: Cooke's penalty is killed. Columbus generated a few chances there.
7:50: Guerin snaps off an easy wrister from the right wing. Mason punches it away.
7:12: Skoula blocks a wrister by Nash from the left wing.
6:39: Chris Conner sneaks down the left wing and snaps off a high wrister which Mason has a little bit of trouble with. Play is halted.
5:29: Fedotenko whips a puck on net from the right faceoff circle. Mason is able to hang on for the save.During a television stoppage, some fans with home-made signs are shown on the video board. One Blue Jackets fans has a sign pointing to a male friend stating "EVERYONE HAS FLAWS. HE'S A PENGUINS FAN" along with an arrow point to her friend. Her friend then responds with a sign that simply says, "CUP."
5:04: Chris Kunitz whips a puck on net from the left wing. Mason kicks it out of play. Crosby charges the net while battling with Marc Methot. Even as officials blow play dead they continue to scrum. Kunitz jumps in as officials break it up.
4:44: Ohhh Columbus fans. A "Crosby Sucks" chant? Win a playoff series before you do something like that. Heck, win a playoff game.
4:21: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
3:41: Goligoski keeps the puck in on the blue line and dances along the line. Blunden is able to make a nice poke check and get the puck down ice. Heck of a play by Blunden.
2:59: Rick Nash leads a three-on-one up ice against Letang from the right wing. He shoots a puck on net. Johnson makes the save but gives up a nice rebound. Huselius is there and pumps a shot on net. Johnson is able to make that save as Orpik lumberjacks Huselius' stick and knocks off the blade. That's two minutes for slashing.
2:11: Cooke gets away with a trip on Huselius.
1:47: Columbus strikes. Nash tries a wraparound from the right side of the cage. He loses his footing and the the puck. Fortunately for Columbus, the puck comes right to Derick Brassard on the right wing. Brassard fires a wrister on net. Johnson makes the save but give up a rebound to Nash in the slot. Nash, the best power forward in the game, punches that in for an easy goal on Johnson's stick side. You can't give Nash that chance. Brassard and Umberger get assists. Blue Jackets 1-0.
1:37: Johnson makes a save. Derek Dorsett shoves Orpik into Johnson knocking both players over. Johnson's dazed. A bunch of Penguins jump Dorsett. A scrum ensues. Johnson's slow to recover but he eventually does. Orpik looks like he wants to rip Dorsett's face off. Dorsett gets a double minor for rouging. Orpik gets a roughing minor. Five on four. Letang, Goligoski, Guerin, Crosby and Kuntiz are on for the power play.
0:36: Letang swats a one-time feed on net from the left point. Mason covers it up.
0:18: Letang directs a shot/pass into the slot. Guerin re-directs it on net with a forehand. Mason fights it off.
0:00: End of period. As time expires, Crosby pumps a quick shot on net from a tough angle on the right wing. Mason knocks it down and covers. Blue Jackets 1, Penguins 0.
FIRST INTERMISSION
-The Blue Jackets smell blood in the water and they attacked. They realized this is a wounded Penguins team and they did what they could to take advantage of it. They were a far more aggressive team that period.
-Rick Nash is a beast. He's easily one of the ten best players in the league. He just bulled his way around the Penguins' zone at will.
-Johnson's been shaky. He's given up a few iffy rebounds, including the one Nash scored on.
-We could see very little evidence of chemistry on the Penguins' bottom three lines.
-Mason's been pretty composed.
-The Penguins have a 12-11 lead in shots.
-Nash leads the game with five shots.
-Guerin, Kunitz and Rupp each have two.
-Letang leads the game with 8:12 of ice time.
-Vermette leads the Blue Jackets with 7:29.
-The Penguins have a 9-7 lead in faceoffs (56 percent).
-Staal is 3 for 3 (100 percent).
-Sammy Pahlsson is 3 for 5 (60 percent).
-Dupuis and Skoula each lead the game with two blocked shots.
SECOND PERIOD
20:00: We forgot to mention this but Brooks Orpik and Bill Guerin are your alternate captain tonight in place of Sergei Gonchar and Malkin. The Penguins will have 22 seconds of power play time left to start the period. Crosby, Guerin, Kunitz, Goligoski and Letang are on for the power play.
19:37: Dorsett's second penalty is killed. The Penguins didn't generate much of a threat with that power play.
19:05: Play is stopped and Crosby limps to the bench in some discomfort. Replays show him getting dumped by Vermette on a low check off a faceoff.
17:57: Crosby has remained on the bench so we suppose he's fine.
17:23: Conner makes a nice steal on a backcheck in the neutral zone. He takes the puck up ice and whips a wrister high and wide to the far side.
16:50: Crosby has returned to the ice.
16:40: "LET"S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
16:26: Jason Chimera steps up and punches a shot on net from just inside the blue line. Johnson makes the easy save.
15:15: Jakub Voracek snaps off a sneaky wrister from the right wing. Johnson steers it away.
14:23: The Penguins get sloppy in their own end and Nash makes them pay once again. Vermette controls the puck behind the Penguins' net with lots of space and time. He dishes it to Nash on the right wing. Nash kneels down and snaps off a wrister to the far side that just gets by Johnson. What a shot. The Penguins gave Vermette too much room to operate with there. Vermette and Mike Commodore get assists. Blue Jackets 2-0.
13:20: During a stoppage, Chipotle Burritos are given away. They must put a Chipotle in Consol Energy Center. They simply must.
12:27: Bourque takes another penalty. This time for hooking. That's his second minor of the night. Adams, Eaton, Cooke, and Orpik take the ice.
11:33: Fedor Tyutin tees up a slapper from the left wing that goes wide to the far side.
10:46: Brassard throws a shot/pass into the slot. Vermette is there and tips it wide.
10:27: Bourque's penalty is killed. Columbus had more than a few chances there.
10:11: Mason makes a dazzling save on Crosby. Kunitz sneaks a pass to Bourque in the slot. Bourque makes a sneaky pass through Methot's legs on a backhand. Crosby is right there coming in from the left wing with the open cage. Mason just gets a piece of it with his glove hand and deflects it out of play. Big-time save.
9:59: Guerin is nabed for hooking Dorsett. Eaton, Staal, Cooke and Orpik are on for the kill.
8:55: Vermette has a chance on a backdoor play but McKee (Who else?) blocks the shot.
8:41: Adams snaps off a wrister from the left wing. Mason fights it off.
8:05: That was unreal. The puck gets played down ice. Kunitz has a chance at a breakaway. He chases down the puck. Just as he's about to collect it, Tyutin dives and knocks the puck back towards his net and takes out Kunitz's skates. Kunitz is still able to get a shot off from his stomach. Mason makes the save. Crosby collects the rebound on the right wing and puts a quick wrister on net. Mason makes the save. Crosby collects the rebound, goes behind the net and distributes a pass to Kunitz to the left of the net. Kunitz is able to squeeze off a wrister that just gets by Mason on the glove side. Wow. What a sequence of events. Kunitz wil have 40 goals by Thanksgiving now. Crosby gets the only assist. Kunitz should get one also just for creating that chance. Blue Jackets 2-1.
6:59: Guerin's penalty is killed.
5:37: Johnson hugs a shot from the right wing by Voracek and freezes play.
5:28: Brassard as good of a chance as he'll ever have in his career and Johnson desnies him. Brassar
4:45: Nash twists Mark Eaton inside out and charges the net with the puck. He loses control of it. Vermette jumps on it and
4:15: Pahlsson is nabbed for hooking. Guerin, Crosby, Kunitz, Goligoski and Letang are on for the power play.
3:33: Crosby dishes a backhanded pass into the slot for Guerin. Guerin smacks the one-time feed wide of the cage.
2:45: Tyutin gets away with a trip on Guerin near the Penguins' bench.
2:10: Pahlsson's penalty ends. He comes out of the box and takes a pass from Dorsett on the right wing. He immediatley gives it back to Dorsett in the slot. Dorsett is able to lift a pretty nice backhander by Johnson on the stick side. Heck of a shot by Dorsett. It's his first goal of the season. Pahlsson and Vermette get assists. Blue Jackets 3-1.
0:30: "LET'S-GO JACK-ETS! LET'S-GO JACK-ETS!"
0:16: Stralman pumps aone-timer on net from the slot. Johnson fights it off.
0:13: Rupp is called for interference on Mason. Crosby, Kunitz, Orpik and Eaton take the ice.
0:00: End of period. Blue Jackets 3, Penguins 1.
SECOND INTERMISSION
-The Penguins evened things up a bit in terms of the aggression and controlling the play, but they're now down by two goals.
-The Penguins' defense is sloppy. They're giving the Blue Jackets far too much time and room to work with in the offensive zone.
-Johnson's not all that sharp. His rebounds have been iffy at best.
-There's still very little going on in terms of chemistry beyond the first line.
-The Penguins' power play looks like a power play playing without Gonchar and Malkin.
-The Blue Jackets have a 23-17 lead in shots.
-Nash leads the game with six.
-Kunitz leads the Penguins with four.
-Letang leads the game with 14:39 of ice time.
-Vermette is right behind him with 14:38.
-Columbus has a 21-15 lead in faceoffs (58 percent).
-Brassard is 4 for 5 (80 percent).
-Staal is 6 for 11 (55 percent).
-Kris Russell leads the game with three blocked shots.
-Goligoski, Eaton, Cooke, Fedotenko, Skoula and McKee each have two.
-The Blue Jackets will have 1:47 of power play time on clean ice.
THIRD PERIOD
20:00: Staal, Cooke, McKee and Eaton are on for the penaly kill.
19:10: Johnson kicks out a wrister from the right faceoff circle.
18:46: Staal is doing whatever he can to get his team back in this. He charges up the right wing with the puck on his backhand and pushes a shot on net. Mason makes the save. While trying to defende Staal, Stralman hooks Staal. That evens things up. Four-on-four for 31 seconds.
18:29: "LET'S GO PENS! LET'S GO PENS!"
18:14: Rupp's penalty is killed. Letang, Goligoski, Guerin, Crosby and Kunitz are on for the power play.
16:46: Stralman's penalty is killed. The Penguins had nothing going on there.
16:25: Staal has a chance to score as he's all alone to the left of the net. He grips his stick a little too tightly and rips a wrister well high of the cage.
15:37: Dupuis simply tees up a slapper from the left wing. Mason makes the save despite a moving screen by Cooke.
14:29: Off a sloppy line change by the Penguins, Chimera pumps a slapper on net from the right point. Johnson gloves it.
13:31: Eaton fires a wild shot from the right wing behind the net. Staal collects the rebound on the other side and immediately sweeps it back on net. Mason makes the save.
12:21: The Blue Jackets play the puck into the Penguins' zone. It takes an awkward bounce off the boards. Johnson is forced to glove it and freeze play. There's been a few funny bounces off these boards tonight.
11:49: Goligoski gets a chance coming in from the right point. He rips a wrister which gets blocked in the slot.
11:18: "LET'S-GO JACK-ETS! LET'S-GO JACK-ETS!"
10:52: Dupuis creates a two-on-one with Letang against Commodore. Dupuis dishes a pass from the right wing to Letang in the slot. Letang can't get a handle on the puck and Commdore crashes into the net dislodging it.
10:26: Huselius rips a wrister from the left faceoff circle that clinks off the cross bar and out of play.
9:48: The Blue Jackets are in dump and chase mode. They dump the puck in, have one player chase it and change the other four on the ice.
7:45: Vermette backhand swats a puck wide of the cage.
7:21: Kunitz has another chance on a breakaway as the puck is played down ice. He moves in on net and snaps off a wrister five hole. Mason kicks it out with a huge save. That might've won this game.
7:08: Crosby is nabbed for slashing. Crosby goes to the box under heavy protest. The call is legit. Oprik, Skoula, Dupuis and Adams are on for the kill. A goal here ends this game.
5:08: Crosby's penalty is ended. The Blue Jackets didn't do much more than try to kill the clock that two minutes.
4:26: Guerin air-mails a slapper from the neutral zone. Mason gloves it and freezes play.
3:25: Letang knocks a clearing attempt by Columbus into the Blue Jacket's bench.
3:15ish: Staal forces a turnover behind the Columbus net.
3:08: Bourque spins and fires a slapper from the left faceoff circle. Mason kicks it out.
2:56: Orpik slides a pass to Skoula at the right point. Skoula hammers a one-timer that appears to get deflected behind the net. Staal falls down in the crease. The puck rebounds off the back boards to the right of the cage. Fedotenko sneaks in from the wing and punches by an out of place Mason. This isn't over yet. Skoula and Oprik get assists. Blue Jackets 3-2.
2:17: Oh geez! This game is tied! This is just like last year's game in here. Crosby controls the puck down low and dishes a soft pass to Goligoski at the right point. Goligoski takes the puck, hesitates, works off a block attempt by Umberger and rips a wrister that beats Mason on the glove side. Wow! What a clutch goal. Crosby and Kunitz get assists. The Blue Jackets call a time out to figure out what the heck happened. Penguins fans here are going nuts. This place is at least 40 percent Penguins fans. Blue Jackets 3, Penguins 3.
2:28: Guerin snaps off a wrister from the right faceoff circle. Mason deflects it out of play.
1:05: "Maaaaaa.... Soooonnnnnn.... Maaaaaaaa.... Sonnnnnnn...."
0:07: Rupp snaps off a wrister from a tough angle on the right wing. Mason traps it against his chest.
0:00: End of period. (Huff... Huff...) Blue Jackets 3, Penguins 3.
THIRD INTERMISSION
-Shots are tied 29-29.
OVERTIME
4:01: Skoula touches up a puck in his own end for icing.
3:35: Fedotenko fights off a check in front of his bench, moves into the offensive zone, cross across the slot and rips a wrister from the left wing. Mason makes the save. Heck of an effort by Fedotenko.
3:14: Skoula puts a wrister on net from the left wing. Mason fights that off.
2:24: The puck slides out to Stralman at the right point. He hammers what is essentially a one-timer on net. Johnson makes a big glove save.
1:11: Pahlsson creates a two on one against Skoula. Skoula lays down taking away the passing lane and Pahlsson eventually runs out of room and fails to get a shot on net. Skoula blocks his shot attempt from a tough angle.
0:26: Staal leaves a drop pass for Letang on the left wing. Letang picks it up, cuts to the crease and snaps off a wrister. Mason makes the save. Voracek is nabbed for holding. The Penguins will have a power play. Bylsma calls a time out to get something organized. This game is too intense for us to make a movie joke. Gueri, Crosby, Letang and Goligoski take the ice.
0:00: ARRGGGHHHHH!!!! The Penguins cut into the zone, makes about 24,029 tic-tac-toe passes. Letang gets the puck and is tripped as time runs out. SHOOOOTTT THE PUCK!!!!! end of period. Blue Jackets 3, Penguins 3.
FOURTH INTERMISSION
-This is soo eerie that these two teams would go to a shootout like this once again.
-Just about everyone here is standing.
SHOOTOUT
-Antoine Vermette is first. He moves in with purpose and rips a wrister that totally misses the net.
-Letang gets the call for the Penguins. He goes in, deks to the forehand, has Mason beat but puts it off the cross bar.
-Nash comes in on Johnson, going slightly to his left and rips a wrister wide to the far side.
-Crosby goes in, goes sligly to the left and shoots five hole. The puck crosses over the line. Mason tries to fish it out quickly by the official points at the net after some hesitation. It's a goal. Penguins 1-0.
-Umberger has to score to keep the Blue Jackets alive. He winds his way on net, goes with the forehand and is stoned by Johnson. End of shootout. Penguins 1, Blue Jackets 0. End of game. Penguins 4, Blue Jackets 3.
-Penguins fans going crazy:
POSTGAME
-Wow. What a game. This was a near duplicate of last season's game between these two teams with one minor difference; The Penguins won. Either way, this was a spectacular contest that had the feel of a late-season playoff push.
-The Blue Jackets let up in the third and paid the price for it. They quit pressing the attack and essentially were playing vintage Ken HItchcock hockey. Get the puck deep, change lines defend the ensuing attack. On paper, one would thing that would work versus this wounded Penguins team, but Dan Bylsma got his team to snap out of its funk and take advantage of the Blue Jackets passive approach.
-Jordan Staal really got this come back going. When he forced that turnover with roughly 3:15 behind the Columbus net, that kept the puck in the offensive zone and allowed the Penguins to simply bombard the net until Fedotenko cashed in. If not for that turnover, Columbus probably wins this game.
-Brent Johnson really responded well after a rough first two periods. He kept the Blue Jackets at bay, even if they weren't attacking that much, and was solid in overtime. And he was obviously perfect in the shootout.
-Crosby's little pass to Goligoski for game-tying goal was something befitting a player of his skill. How many other players could identify Goligoski in that situation so close to the net surrounded by opposing defenders. Crosby put the right amount of velocity on the pass and gave Goligoski a chance to rip a nice shot to tie the game.
-The Crosby-Kunitz-Guerin line was the only consistent unit for the Penguins that had any semblence of chemistry. The other three lines just looked confused most of the night. And justifyably show given the injuries.
-Martin Skoula might've had his best game for the Penguins. He had the shot from the point that set up Fedotenko's goal and played a very solid game defensively. He made a wonderful play on Samuel Pahlsson late to break up a two-on-one. We were really impressed by him all around tonight.
-We won't beat on the power play tonight given Malkin and Gonchar's absence.
-Rick Nash is a beast. He's simply the best power forward in the game. And he plays defense.
-Bylsma speaks. On his team's comeback:
"There’s areas of the game we didn’t play well. We knew that going into the third. We knew we had 20 minutes left to put an effort out there. That’s how we approach wins and losses and period. The guys went out and played a whale of a third and hung in there and stuck with it and found a way to pull out a win."
-On Brent Johnson:
"He’s been great in practice.
He’s been great in the room. When given the chance, he’s been laying it
on the line on the ice. I’d like to see an easy one for him. He
battles. He scratches and claws. He seems to find a way to give the
team a chance. And there were some big saves he made to keep the game
within reason and kept us in that game. I’m happy to see him get the
two victories even though they weren’t the prettiest wins. He deserves
it. The attitude, the work ethic is a big part of why he deserves it."
-On Columbus' effort in the third period:
"You saw them give up more time in the defensive zone, our offensive zone. I don’t know if that us pressing the issue, getting the offensive zone, hemming them in a few times. But we were able to keep that going. We kept talking with 10 minutes left we were looking at one (goal) every five (minutes) and we wanted to keep pressing the issue. Again, it took the last 10 minutes of pretty hard hockey to come up with two points. But our guys were able to get to the offensive zone and wear them down and we capitalized with some timely goals. "
-On the Penguins fans present:
"This might’ve been the most electric crowd of the season both from the Columbus standpoint and our fans. Right from warm up, our fans were screaming and yelling. And their fans had it going for a lot of the game as well. We had a lot of Pittsburgh fans here as well. It was entertaining. It was energetic in the building."
Crosby speaks. On the comeback:
"We were fortunate to get some good bounces in the third. But we can’t expect to play 20, 25 minutes of hockey and win every night. We don’t want to flirt with two-goal deficits in the third period, under five minutes left. The main thing we can take from this we just made sure we were going to have a good third no matter what the result was going to be. We just wanted to get back to our game a bit. I think they sat back a little too much and allowed us to make some things happen. We got some big saves from (Johnson) in net and got a few big plays later."
On his shootout goal:
"I thought he saved it. It was a kind of a fluke. The puck kept going. I don’t know if he lost it or didn’t know where it was or whatever. Shot a quick shot and I thought he had the save there and it just trickled in."
On the similarities to last season's game in Columbus:
"It was identical. It felt identical. The third we kept generating chances and chances and I think we all felt confident we could get ourselves back in it with the way we were playing and the momentum we had."
On Columbus' third period:
"Yeah. That’s what I felt. I’m sure they’ll say the same thing. They’re really tough and stingy defensively. They don’t give you a lot. They probably felt like they sat back a little bit. Combine that with us getting some pucks deep and getting a little more pressure on them. That combination, we were able to get some more chances."
-On Rick Nash:
"He’s a great player. All over the ice. He’s got tons of speed. He’s smart. He’s big. He’s hard to knock off the puck."
-On the third period:
"We didn’t give up. I think the fact we that didn’t play our game at all (in the first two periods), I’m sure that was motivation going to the third for us to bring our game for 20 minutes. We owed that to ourselves and that’s what we tried to do."
On Goligoski's goal:
"He just made a great read, came in from the point and probably figured we’d have a lot of guys coming in to filter towards the net. He made a great read and found and opening and made a great shot."
-Shots ended up tied, 32-32.
-Nash led the game with seven.
-Kunitz led the Penguins with five.
-Tyutin led the game with 26:34 of ice time.
-Letang led the Penguins with 25:20.
-The Blue Jackets controlled faceoffs, 34-29 (54 percent).
-Vermette was 13 for 20 (65 percent).
-Rupp was 4 for 6 (67 percent).
-Russell and McKee and led the game with three blocked shots each.
-Skoula's assist was his first point as a Penguin.
-Fedotenko broke into the team's top 150 all-time scorers. He passed up Paul Andrea for 149th place. Each player has 45 points but Fedotenko (15) has more goals than Andrea (18)