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 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 ruled he kicked the puck into the net.
"We almost came back," Hornqvist said. "But that's no goal. It was a
good call by the ref."
The Blue Jackets came in 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.
"We wanted to do a good job of getting on the forecheck, keeping it
simple, and frustrate their guys because they can make plays," Saad
of shutting out Penguins stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
"Just play simple and play well defensively."
And, in Saad's case, offensively, with a lot of his friends from
Pine-Richland High and family in the Consol Energy Center stands.
"I've got a lot of support here," said Saad, who brought the Stanley
Cup back home last summer after winning it while with the Chicago
Blackhawks.
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 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.
"Funny how it works," Tortorella said. "You lose a big guy; he
(Dubinsky) eats up a lot of minutes ... (and) Murray barely made the
lineup, but they banded together."
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Because he wasn't expected to play, Murray skated much longer and
harder than usual on a game day, only to get a phone call later that
he was playing.
"It wasn't too bad," Murray said of having to quickly adjust to
playing. "I played a lot better than I did the last couple of games.
It's a step forward."
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, collecting a rebound near the right post following a
scramble in front created by defenseman Cody Goloubef's slap shot
from above the circles.
That was enough, especially given the Penguins' inability to score
on a power play that had scored in five consecutive games.
"We didn't get enough pucks to the net," coach Mike Johnston said.
"We had been on a roll and I thought our power play was coming."
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.
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