Blue Jackets continue playoff run with victory over Penguins

The Columbus Blue Jackets recovered from a blown three goal lead to upend the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout at the Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.  With the victory the Jackets are still on pace to make the NHL playoffs for the first time in franchise history, while the Penguins—last season’s Stanley Cup finalists—are still life and death to make the postseason themselves.

For 40 minutes, everything was going Columbus’ way as they built a 2-0 lead heading into the final period.  Kristian Huselius’ scored in the first period assisted by Fedor Tyutin and Rostislav Klesl, while Jason Williams scored in the second assisted by Antoine Vermette.  Williams returned the favor early in the third period, setting up Vermette for his 10^th goal of the season to increase the Jackets’ advantage to 3-0.

Things fell apart quickly after that, as usually reliable Jackets’ rookie goaltender Steve Mason allowed three Pittsburgh goals in less than 3:30 minutes as Sergei Gonchar. Pascal Dupuis, Maxime Talbot.  That tied the game at 3-3, and after a five minute overtime failed to produce a winner the Blue Jackets prevailed in the shootout thanks, in large part, to the solid goaltending of Mason.  The rookie goaltender said that he wasn’t rattled by the short term breakdown in the third period:

"As long as we score first, I feel pretty confident. It doesn't matter to me what the score is or what happens in the game. My demeanor never changes out there. I was calm throughout."

Columbus’ Antoine Vermette, who has extensive playoff experience from his time in Ottawa, said that he hoped this would be a learning experience for his young teammates:

"Somehow I like facing this situation. It sounds weird but good teams at this time have to show some [ability to overcome] adversity like this. [It's] obviously not the way we wanted it, when you're up 3-0. But when things aren't going our way, you've got to remember these moments."

Jackets’ coach Ken Hitchcock took the opportunity to put the team’s most recent victories in perspective:

"Look who we beat in the last three games. We beat Detroit, we beat Boston, we beat the hottest team in the NHL. It's hard. Every game is hard. There are no breathers. ... It's the way it is right now. You have to find the energy and we need new people stepping up. We've got to keep going and keep rolling."

Hitchcock must have been looking ahead at the team’s schedule, as the Blue Jackets will travel to Chicago to play the division rival Blackhawks on Friday night.  The two teams will play a rematch in Columbus next Wednesday, and in between the two games the Jackets will host the aforementioned Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.   The Penguins will play their next three games at home, hosting the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon before a big matchup with the Boston Bruins 24 hours later.  They’ll welcome the Atlanta Thrashers to town on Tuesday night.