Blue Jackets cough up late lead, fall to Penguins in OT to conclude preseason
Goals by Oliver Bjorkstrand, Sean Kuraly and Max Domi weren't enough to overcome Pittsburgh's late surge.
Brian Hedger
The Blue Jackets’ final preseason tune-up resembled the real deal.
It helped that it was against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who along with the Tampa Bay Lightning are the Blue Jackets’ biggest rivals. There were Penguins fans who showed up in impressive numbers, a throng of Blue Jackets backers for the team’s final exhibition and together they created the largest audience of the preseason at Nationwide Arena.
It was a welcome background soundtrack for a game that had some intense moments plus a Penguins comeback from a two-goal deficit in the third period to win 4-3 in overtime.
Jason Zucker ended it with a power-play goal off a rebound 1:18 into OT for the Penguins, who had goals from Chad Ruhwedel, Bryan Rust and Teddy Bleuger in regulation. Rust and Bleuger scored 2:15 apart in the third to tie it 3-3 and force overtime.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Sean Kuraly and Max Domi scored goals for the Blue Jackets (4-3-1), who will open the regular season Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes.
Domi got back into a game far ahead of the expected timetable he was given following surgery June 4 to repair the labrum in his right shoulder. He played 13:12, had the shoulder tested on a good hit by Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang and pounded a one-timer into the net to put the Jackets up 3-1 early in the third.
Kuraly’s goal was his first since signing with his hometown team as a free agent in July. It broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and put a smile on his face, even though it won’t officially count in his career statistics.
“I’m glad I didn’t celebrate too hard on that goal, but I sure wanted to,” said Kuraly, who’s from Dublin. “I held it in. I didn’t want to hear it from our guys or the rest of the other team. It was good to get a goal, but you start feeling this rink and feel like you’re on the right side now with these fans behind us. Good showing tonight for a preseason game on a Saturday night. It’s starting to feel like hockey’s around the corner, which it is.”
Kuraly was also involved in a fracas around the Penguins’ net in the first period.
After clipping Jarry while the goalie was outside his crease, Kuraly was speared in the midsection by Penguins defenseman Mark Friedman and then crosschecked to the ice, from behind, by Sam Lafferty. Kuraly stayed down for a few moments before getting up and skating to the penalty box to serve a goaltender interference minor. Lafferty was assessed a cross-checking minor. Friedman got a major penalty for spearing plus a game misconduct, while fans of both teams instantly rose to their feet.
“It really surprised me, to be honest,” Kuraly said of Friedman spearing him. “I wasn’t intentionally running into the goalie. I didn’t want to get a penalty. I saw the replay. I ran into him. It was a penalty. He was outside of his crease, which doesn’t matter, but I don’t think it was malicious or anything. I mean, they had a power play until they did that.”
That set an early tone for a physical game that gave each team a good send-off to the regular season.
“It was great,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “I thought it was a perfect way to end the preseason there. I thought both teams were skating hard. I liked a lot of what we did tonight.”
Three stars
First
Teddy Blueger, Penguins, forward
Blueger scored a tying goal that forced OT and finished with two points on a goal and assist.
Second
Max Domi, Blue Jackets, right wing
Domi returned to action after having offseason shoulder surge shoulder surgery and added a goal while skating on the third line
Third
Tristan Jarry, Penguins, goalie
Jarry made 26 saves, including a couple against high-danger chances to keep the Blue Jackets from expanding their lead.
Turning point
The Penguins gained new life on Rust’s goal in the third that pulled his team within striking distance at 3-2 with 9:38 left to play. The veteran forward intercepted a clearing attempt by Blue Jackets defenseman Mikko Lehtonen in the neutral zone and then beat three Columbus defenders to the net for the goal.
Blueger tied it 3-3 just 2:15 later, defenseman Jake Bean committed a high-sticking double minor with 4:07 left and Pittsburgh was suddenly in the driver’s seat.
Save of the game
Facing an odd-man rush with time running down at the end of the first period, Jarry made a dazzling stop on Jack Roslovic to keep it 1-1 with 17 seconds left. Roslovic was at full speed and snapped a shot at a wide opening on the right side of the net, but Jarry slid over and stacked the pads to make the save.
Goal breakdowns
First period
CBJ — Bjorkstrand (Bean, Gustav Nyquist) 1-0 at 6:33
The Blue Jackets scored the first goal for the sixth time in eight exhibition games, taking a 1-0 lead on Bjorkstrand’s fifth goal of the preseason. After getting the puck from Nyquist, Bean spotted Bjorkstrand uncovered in the low slot and sent him a pass from the left wing. Bjorkstrand did the rest, rifling a wrist shot over Jarry’s glove.
PIT — Ruhwedel (Brock McGinn, Blueger) 1-1 at 17:05
Carrying the puck up the left wing, Ruhwedel stopped in the faceoff circle and fired a laser of a wrist shot over Merzlikins’s shoulder and under the crossbar with 2:55 left in the period. The shot helped the Penguins claw back into a game the Blue Jackets controlled for most of the first 20 minutes.
Second period
CBJ — Kuraly (Eric Robinson, Vladislav Gavrikov) 2-1 at 13:25
The Blue Jackets’ fourth line made the Penguins pay for failing to exit their own zone cleanly. Gavrikov broke it up and got the puck to Robinson high along the wall on the left wing. Spotting Kuraly breaking to the net, he slid a quick backhand feed for an uncontested scoring chance from the left circle.
Kuraly put his shot under the crossbar for the goal with 6:35 left in the period. It was his first goal of the preseason and first since signing with his hometown team in July as an unrestricted free agent.
Third period
CBJ — Domi (Cole Sillinger) 3-1 at 2:08
Sillinger played one of his best overall games of the preseason, centering the Jackets’ third line with Boone Jenner and Domi as wingers. On this one, the 18-year old pivot forced a turnover in the Penguins’ zone and quickly found Domi open for a one-timer. He got all of it and blasted it past Jarry from the slot.
PIT — Rust (unassisted) 3-2 at 10:22
Columbus paid the price for an errant exit pass by defenseman Mikko Lehtonen, whose backhand chip into the neutral zone was picked off by Rust and carried back across the Blue Jackets’ blue line. Rust skated around three Blue Jackets, cut sharply in front of the net and slid the puck between Merzlikins’ pads for the goal.
PIT — Blueger (Dominik Simon, Kris Letang) 3-3 at 12:37
A couple minutes after Rust’s goal, a blown assignment in the Blue Jackets’ zone led to the tying goal that ultimately sent the game to overtime. Blueger was credited with it after his long wrist shot from high in the right circle beat Merzlkins past the glove side. The puck appeared to be redirected by one of his teammates in the slot, but Blueger was given the goal. Regardless, it tied the game and gave Pittsburgh a boost.
Overtime
PIT — Zucker (Jeff Carter, Letang) PPG 4-3 at 1:18
After committing a needless slashing penalty that negated the second half of a four minute power play in the final four minutes of the third, Zucker made amends by scoring the winner. Swooping down toward the right post, he got to a rebound of Jeff Carter’s shot from the front of the net and sent it home to end the game.
Quotable
“It was obviously something that I was looking to get under my feet and it felt good to be back out there with the boys. I think that was the biggest thing. When you’re grinding by yourself for so long, it’s nice to get back out there with your buddies.” — Domi on returning to action after having offseason shoulder surgery June 4.
“I got more comfortable as the game went on, especially playing with Domi and (Boone) Jenner. They’re two veterans in this league and just allowed me to play my game tonight and were super supportive on the plays and everything, very talkative out there, and I think that we built chemistry as the game went on." — Sillinger on playing in the Jackets’ preseason finale as an 18-year old rookie center.
“Tonight kind of felt like the first real NHL game, which is a welcomed thing to our team. We got a lead. I think all preseason we showed we can put some pucks in the net, so we’re scoring enough. We’ve just got to learn from tonight, be smart when you get the lead and we’ll take some teaching points from it.” — Kuraly on the intensity level of the preseason finale.
“You want to win the game, but I’m glad we got in the situation. This is the time to go through it and it’s disappointing we lost. I want them to feel that. If it happens easy, sometimes that’s a little scary. It definitely wasn’t easy, but I would say there was a lot to like tonight. I’ll put it that way.” — Larsen on losing a two-goal lead and falling in overtime to end the preseason.
bhedger@dispatch.com
@BrianHedger