from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch,
The Pittsburgh Penguins have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, which is like having Batman, Superman and a rotund Robin. Give them a coach who knows what he’s doing, and they’re going to contend for the Stanley Cup on an annual basis. In fact, they do just that.
The Blue Jackets have one elite offensive player in Artemi Panarin. They have two terrific, young defensemen in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, and they have a world-class goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky. They can be a playoff team if they score enough — and to score enough, they need contributions from up and down their lineup.
Sunday evening, the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets 5-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,100 in Nationwide Arena. The Pens were playing the second night of a back-to-back, on the road, and Crosby, Malkin and Kessel combined for one assist. They still enjoyed themselves immensely.
The Penguins got five points from their third line, and another six from their defensive corps. They won with depth, which isn’t supposed to be one of their strengths. They won with emotion and determination, which are supposed to be hallmarks of the Blue Jackets. They made Bobrovsky look shaky, and it was like the playoffs all over again.
Game highlights are below...
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