Penguins lead Blue Jackets, 2-0

Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, Marc-Andre Fleury stayed sharp in his second straight playoff start and the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled away for a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

Jake Guentzel added a goal and an assist to help the defending Stanley Cup champions take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal of the postseason, and Patric Hornqvist pushed in an empty-net goal.

Fleury finished with 39 saves while filling in for the injured Matt Murray, and received plenty of help. Pittsburgh blocked 23 shots before they even got to Fleury.

Brandon Saad scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots.

Game 3 is Sunday night in Columbus.

Fleury admitted to some jitters when he was suddenly thrust into the lineup with barely 20 minutes to prepare after Murray was a late scratch before Game 1 with a lower-body injury — and responded with a 31save masterpiece. Murray is out indefinitely, returning Fleury to the spot he held for a decade while becoming the winningest goaltender in franchise history.

His club-record 102nd playoff appearance looked an awful lot like his 101st, when he held the Blue Jackets in check during an early push then waited for NHL’s best offense to find its footing.

The awakening came earlier than in the series opener. Crosby turned Pittsburgh’s first shot of the game into the 50th playoff goal of his career, though he had the easy part: settling the puck at the doorstep then flipping it into a wide-open net. Sheary did the hard part: poke-checking the puck away from Bobrovsky behind the Columbus net and getting it to Guentzel in front. Guentzel then slid it to Crosby and the Penguins were in control.

Saad gave the Blue Jackets a jolt when his wrist shot from the left circle zipped over Fleury’s glove 7 minutes into the second.

The momentum lasted all of 51 seconds, or as along as it took for Crosby and Guentzel to break in 2-on1. Crosby fed it to Guentzel and the 22-year-old rookie opted not to give it to back to the league’s leading goal scorer and instead sent a shot past Bobrovsky’s outstretched left pad.

GENE J. PUSKAR — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) is hit by the Blue Jackets’ Scott Hartnell (43) as he gets off a shot in front of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL first-round hockey playoff series in Pittsburgh.