The Pittsburgh Penguins began a five-game homestand with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
After watching the Montreal Canadiens overtake them in the Eastern Conference wildcard race on Monday, the Pittsburgh Penguins didn't do themselves any favors on Tuesday night, blowing a 3-1 third-period lead to eventually lose in the shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins' well-documented struggles against the Metro Division continue to haunt them. They are now 3-8-2 against their closest rivals and are winless against Columbus this season.
Even though it was a special night for Rickard Rakell and Michael Bunting, the Blue Jackets wanted it more and never gave up, pushing for a shootout, another area of concern for the Penguins.
Milestone Night
Down 1-0 in the second period, Bunting tipped home a power-play goal, his eighth of the year to set a new career high for power-play goals in a season.
Then, in the third period, Rakell broke the 1-1 tie with his 19th of the season just 24 seconds into the final period. Ten minutes later, he extended the Penguins lead with his 20th tally of the year, reaching the plateau for the sixth time in his career.
Meanwhile, captain Sidney Crosby surpassed Patrice Bergeron for most face-off wins in NHL history, with over 15,183.
Penguins Shootout Troubles Continue
Only seven Penguins players have participated in the shootout this season, and one of them (Lars Eller) is no longer with the club. Surprisingly, five of them have scored: Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Beauvillier, and Rakell.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX7lIMK3tCE[/embed]
However, combined, they are just 5-for-17, which equals a 29% shooting percentage, which isn't bad. Yet, their goalies can't be relied on to save the day, giving up ten goals on 20 chances for a .500 SV% in the one-on-one competition.
Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic are now 1-4 in shootouts, leaving valuable points on the ice, which explains why the Penguins remain outside a wildcard spot looking in.
Puljujarvi Near Invisible in Return
The Penguins were short Philip Tomasino and went into Tuesday's game without superstar Evgeni Malkin. In their place, Jesse Puljujarvi rejoined the lineup for the first time since Dec. 7.
After being placed on waivers and going unclaimed, Puljujarvi didn't have much of an impact in his return, skating just 13:37, the third-lowest total of all forwards, and barely ahead of rookie defenseman Owen Pickering (14:50).
With one shot on goal, the Penguins' fourth line, including Blake Lizotte and Anthony Beauvillier, didn't get onto the scoresheet except when Lizotte took a penalty, which led to the Adam Fantilli game-tying goal.
Penguins & Blue Jackets Trivia Answers
How did you score in our Game Day Trivia quiz? Here are the answers.
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