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 But the way the Penguins handled it -- cool, calm, controlled -- was
seen as a good sign for a club gearing up for another Stanley Cup
playoff run.
Carl Hagelin's second-period goal gave the Penguins the lead for a
good in a 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets.
Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang also scored for the Penguins and
goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury had 25 saves.
"You just don't get involved," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
"It's as simple as that.
"What we talked about was playing to our strengths, making sure we
play the game we want to play. I thought we did that. I thought we
played hard between the whistles and kept our focus. We stayed with
it."
The Penguins (35-24-8) are trying to hold off rival Philadelphia for
the second and final wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern
Conference. The win preserved their three-point cushion.
Pittsburgh played most of the final two periods without star center
Evgeni Malkin, who left with an unspecified injury.
Asked for an update, Sullivan said, "I don't have one. He'll be
evaluated tomorrow. We'll have a better idea tomorrow."
Gregory Campbell and Cam Atkinson scored for the Blue Jacketes.
Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky -- making his first start since Jan. 21
-- finished with 28 saves.
The Blue Jackets didn't think they played physically enough. The
forecheck they need to pin the Penguins in their own zone was
non-existent in the second period when Pittsburgh took control.
"We didn't defend well." Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said.
"They had the puck in our end zone too much.
"With the speed and the balance they have up front, you have to play
in their end zone, get on them, and we didn't do that enough."
The Penguins made a healthy scratch of tough guy Tom Sestito, a bit
of a surprise because they expected the Blue Jackets to get
physical.
Instead, Sullivan said he wanted his players to play through
whatever Columbus threw their way.
"When these two teams meet, it gets pretty chippy," Penguins center
Sidney Crosby said. "That's what we can expect as players.
"It's good for us. We should get used to it. Down the stretch, there
will be a lot of games like that."
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead at 5:05 of the first period, and it
was a rare contribution from the fourth line.
Right winger Jared Boll, who just recently joined the lineup after a
long string of healthy scratches, made a perfect pass to Campbell
off the rush.
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Campbell buried the puck over Fleury's extended left pad, his third
goal of the season and his first in 47 games. Boll had gone 48 games
-- dating to last season -- since his last point of any kind.
The Penguins tied it later in the period when Letang sailed a slap
shot through traffic on the power play at 14:23. It was Letang's
10th goal since Dec. 1.
Pittsburgh took control in the second period.
Only 45 seconds in, with the Penguins swarming Bobrovsky after a
juicy rebound, Kunitz scored his 13th goal of the season off a loose
puck on the doorstep.
The Blue Jackets pulled even at 2:58 when Atkinson scored his
career-high 24th goal of the season off a breakaway.
Atkinson had another breakaway later in the second period, but
Fleury poked it away near the hashmarks.
Other than the breakaways, the Blue Jackets barely created any
offensive pressure on the Penguins, who outshot them 16-6 in the
second period.
At 4:47 of the third period, Pittsburgh reclaimed the lead, scoring
a goal that was very similar to Kunitz's a few minutes earlier.
This time, it was Hagelin on the doorstep for scraps after a long
rebound by Bobrovsky. Hagelin swept the puck into the net off his
backhand.
NOTES: The Blue Jackets sent G Joonas Korpisalo to minor-league Lake
Erie, despite Korpisalo putting up very good numbers in the NHL:
14-8-3 record with a .918 save percentage and 2.63 goals-against
average. The Jackets want Korpisalo to continue playing, and that
will be hard to do with G Sergei Bobrovsky back and active. ... The
Penguins made a healthy scratch of LW Tom Sestito, who spoke earlier
in the week about challenging Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky in
this game. ... Blue Jackets D Jack Johnson (upper body) could be
lost for the season, but the club isn't specifying his injury.
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