COLUMBUS, Ohio —
One. Whenever the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins meet, expect a wild game. Tonight’s match-up was no exception, as both teams battled back and forth. The Blue Jackets came out strong, winning nine of the game’s first 11 faceoffs and taking a 1-0 lead. The Penguins came right back to tie it at the end of the first, then took over the lead in the first minute of the second period. Though the Blue Jackets came back to tie it once more, the Penguins responded and held onto the 3-2 lead to win. Both teams upped the physicality as the game went on, even though the officials held a loose leash. Both also hit several posts, broke multiple sticks at key times and made it a pretty entertaining 60 minutes. The Blue Jackets wish they were on the winning end, but there is no denying that tonight was a fight on both ends of the ice.
Two. The big question mark going into tonight’s game was how Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky would perform in goal for the first time since Jan. 21 and his 28th game of the season. There was definitely rust there, as Bobrovsky took the game’s first penalty in the opening two minutes, allowed three goals on 14 shots and did not look confident on a handful of rebounds. He settled in the third period, but did not face as many shots in that final frame. It will take a few games to truly see how well Bobrovsky will rebound, but the first game back was no easy feat.
Three. The Blue Jackets’ fourth line–Rene Borque, Gregory Campbell and Jared Boll–came to play tonight. Campbell recorded a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season and his first goal in 46 games, while Boll finally recorded his first point of the 2015-16 campaign in his 25th game. Though Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella shuffled the lines, including moving Borque up, the trio had a solid showing with a plus-5 rating. They set the tone for the game with their first period goal and by getting into the Penguins’ heads with their physicality.
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