It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't a masterpiece, it was a 4-3 win for the Penguins thanks to an incredible third period comeback.
The Penguins and Blue Jackets brought their show to Nationwide Arena in Columbus Monday night for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. It was the first playoff game in Ohio since 2009. The return of the Stanley Cup playoffs brought electricity to Columbus, and the Blue Jackets came out determined not to let their home fans down.
Flower Wilting
The Blue Jackets came out of the gate fast and furious. Marc-Andre Fleury was called upon to make two big saves off his own rebounds within the first four minutes.
Except, he didn't. Both rebounds ended up in the back of his net after he was unable to corral them. Goals by Boone Jenner and Jack Johnson gave the Blue Jackets an early 2-0 lead. The Jackets were flying and the arena was rocking. For Penguin fans, the reminder of Fleury's past playoff failures came swimming back to mind. The Blue Jackets were swarming the Penguins' goal, and Fleury appeared to be wilting under the pressure. But he rebounded the rest of the way.
"I took it one shot at a time, tried to keep within the game," Fleury said afterwards. "Just make the next save."
Physical/Scoring Woes
The Penguins were once again pounded by the Blue Jackets physically. The Jackets had close to 100 hits as a team through the first two games, and that trend continued in Game 3. The Penguins, already reeling from the early 2-0 deficit, faced an onslaught of Columbus forechecking. For almost two periods, the Penguins were unable to solve Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, despite outshooting them 41-20 overall in the game. It took until the last second of the second period before Penguin defenseman Brooks Orpik beat Bobrovsky to narrow the deficit to 2-1 and give the Penguins some hope.
Cardiac Comeback
The Penguins' woes continued early in the third period, as Brandon Dubinsky bounced a backhand shot off teammate Cam Atkinson to restore Columbus' two goal lead. The Penguins seemed all but dead and buried, destined to fall behind in the series. All the momentum had shifted to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
There have been several two goal leads for either team in each of the first two games. In all cases, the lead didn't last. That trend would continue as Pittsburgh rattled off three goals in less than three minutes to grab a 4-3 lead. The sudden outburst silenced the raucus crowd at Nationwide Arena, as Brandon Sutter, Lee Stempniak, and Jussi Jokinen all beat Bobrovsky in quick succession. The Penguins nursed the slim lead home, and quite literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
Going Forward
The two teams get set to play Game 4 on Wednesday. It remains to be seen how the Blue Jackets will respond after dropping what seemed to be a sure victory on home ice in such stunning fashion. Conversely, it will be interesting to see if their comeback sparks the Penguins to take charge of this series. One thing is certain...the Penguins are lucky to be ahead 2-1 in the series.
"A lot of guys here have won and been on long runs," Stempniak commented after the game. "They kept their belief. I think everybody just fed off of that. We generated a lot of shots and had a lot of opportunities. It was good to just keep going with it."
"They've got a good team over there," Dubinsky remarked. He had two assists for the Blue Jackets. "We just have to find a way to rebound and be resilient. We have been all year long, so I'm confident in this group."
Indeed, this series is far from over.