Blue Jackets Unable to Hold 4-1 Lead, Lose in Overtime to Penguins

Anytime the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins get together for a game, crazy stuff seems to happen. It did again on Sunday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd at Nationwide Arena.

Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal in overtime to help lift the Penguins to a 5-4 win over the Blue Jackets. Rickard Rakell tied the game with just 14 seconds left in regulation to complete a comeback from down 4-1 in the second period.

The story of this game was how the Blue Jackets again let a three-goal lead slip away against a division rival.

Game Recap

It was the Penguins, coming off an impressive 4-1 win in Detroit on Saturday, who got the scoring started. Ville Koivunen, who entered the lineup in place of Ruter McGroarty, finished a rebound just 1:50 into the game.

The Blue Jackets didn’t have a shot on goal up until the first TV timeout. They were able to find their game and momentum thanks to a timely goal by Dmitri Voronkov.

Denton Mateychuk’s shot was tipped by Voronkov to make it 1-1. The Blue Jackets then quickly made it 2-1 thanks to another goal by Mason Marchment. He scored just 27 seconds after Voronkov did.

Before the first was over, Zach Werenski made a great pass to an open Kirill Marchenko to make 3-1 Blue Jackets after 20 minutes. Then just 47 seconds into the second, Werenski scored to make it 4-1 becoming the first Blue Jacket defenseman ever to record multi-point games in five consecutive games.

From then on, the Penguins turned up the energy and dictated the pace. Jet Greaves was great keeping 4-1 until a big turnover opened the door for the Penguins to start their comeback.

With 3:09 left in the second, Noel Acciari beat Greaves to cut it to 4-2. A sequence of three consecutive turnovers led to the lead being cut to two. The moment had the here we go again feeling. It played out exactly like that.

It took the Penguins just 3:28 into the third for Tommy Novak to make it 4-3. The Blue Jackets didn’t have the puck much. Even when they did, they were unable to make enough plays.

The Penguins pulled goalie Arturs Silovs down 4-3. While the Blue Jackets got an initial clear, they needed one more. They didn’t get it. They paid the price.

Rakell scored with 14 seconds left to tie it. Crosby then won it in overtime. Charlie Coyle tried going to the bench on a change and couldn’t get back into the play. Some Blue Jackets’ players stayed on the ice thinking the play was offside. That wasn’t the case. It was another golden opportunity wasted to get a big regulation win.

The Blue Jackets will spend Monday traveling to San Jose and will play the Sharks late Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the Penguins sweep the weekend and will enjoy Monday off. The Penguins will enjoy a few days off before hosting the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.