Penguins roll past Blue Jackets, take 2-0 lead
Canadiens win in OT; Blues edge Wild
PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, and Marc-Andre Fleury stayed sharp in his second straight playoff start as 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 Fleury received plenty of help. Pittsburgh blocked 23 shots before they got to Fleury.
Brandon Saad scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots.
“We played the game we wanted to, we just weren’t able to bury our chances and they did,” Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky said.
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 31-save effort. Murray is out indefinitely, returning Fleury to the spot he held for a decade while becoming the winningest goaltender in franchise history.
Crosby got the scoring started on Pittsburgh’s first shot of the game. It was the 50th playoff goal of his career.
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 51 seconds, or as along as it took for Crosby and Guentzel to break in 2-on-1. 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 that Bobrovsky’s outstretched left pad couldn’t reach.
Pittsburgh was firmly in control after Malkin scored at 2:01 of the third period.
CANADIENS 4, RANGERS 3
(OT): In Montreal, Alexander Radulov scored at 18:34 of overtime to give Montreal a victory over New York in Game 2 of the first-round series.
Radulov jammed the puck in from the edge of the crease after a feed from Max Pacioretty to tie the best-of-seven series 1-1. The victory was the first for a Canadian team in the playoffs since 2015.
Game 3 is Sunday night in New York.
Trailing 3-2 in the third period, the Canadiens scored with 18 seconds left, with goalie Carey Price pulled. Tomas Plekanec redirected Radulov’s feed past goalie Henrik Lundqvist to force overtime.
BLUES 2, WILD 1: In St. Paul, Minn., Jaden Schwartz scored with 2:27 remaining during a 4-on-4 situation as St. Louis beat Minnesota to give the Blues a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
Joel Edmundson had the first goal for the Blues after winning Game 1 in overtime and Jake Allen was steady with 23 saves.
Zach Parise scored for the Wild, on a 5-on-3 late in the second period, but goalie Devan Dubnyk simply hasn’t been as dominant as Allen at the other end. Screened by David Perron, Dubnyk didn’t track Schwartz’s deep shot from the slot. Dubnyk made 20 saves.
The best-of-seven shifts to St. Louis for Game 3 on Sunday.
OILERS 2, SHARKS 0: In Edmonton, Alberta, Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist as Edmonton defeated San Jose to even their best-of-seven series at 1-1.
Cam Talbot made 16 saves for the Oilers.