Sergei+Bobrovsky+Columbus+Blue+Jackets+v+New+yyCy8bN81G4lPENGUINS RE-TAKE CONTROL OF SERIES
In a game that had many up’s and down’s, the Pittsburgh Penguins have retaken control of the series, stunning the Columbus Blue Jackets with a come from behind 4-3 win in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead.
For the third time in the series, the winning team has rallied from a three goal deficit.
A third period offensive surge fueled the victory for the Penguins as Brandon Sutter, Lee Stempniak and Jussi Jokinen scored in a span of 2:13 of the third period as the Penguins changed the whole complexion of the game in a matter of minutes, going from being down 3-1 to taking a 4-3 lead.
“Typically, it’s not the way you win hockey games, but it showed a lot of character and a lot of patience,” Sidney Crosby said.
The Penguins had a disaster of a start as Columbus scored twice in the first 3:18 of the game, one a sloppy rebound from Marc Andre Fleury. They went 0-3 in on the power play in the first period and Sergei Bobrovsky was on his game seeing, pucks very well. The Penguins, though, outshot Columbus 16-7 in the first period and didn’t shutdown like they did in Game 2 when faced with adversity.
Pittsburgh again was out-shooting Columbus in the second period but couldn’t beat Bobrovsky until Brooks Orpik did with 0.7 seconds left in the second period to give the Penguins life and put them within one goal.
The Penguins overcame a Cam Atkinson goal, 1:04 into the third period to put Columbus up 3-1. An offensive strategy of getting traffic in front and shots to the point worked to perfection in the third period for the Penguins as the Blue Jackets “D” that was missing Fedor Tyutin struggled mightily at boxing the Penguins out.
One thing Columbus found out Monday night is that you never let your foot off the gas against the Penguins. A superior team from an offensive standpoint is never out of the game. What was impressive tonight is how the Penguins reset and got back into the game by doing things they need to do more consistently like causing havoc in front of the net.
Pittsburgh out shot Columbus 15-5 in the third and Columbus didn’t get their second shot of the period until with 7:52 left in the game. Despite trailing for over 40 minutes in the game, the Penguins outshot Columbus 41-20. Pittsburgh was able to gain the Jackets zone at ease all game and Sergei Bobrovsky was great for the first 39 minutes of the game.
The Penguins won despite going 0-7 on the power play. They countered that by going 6-6 on the penalty kill.