from Michael Arace of the Columbus Blue Jackets,
It had stick fights, fistfights, boiling bad blood, vocal baiting and post-whistle whining. It had pucks hitting the referees in the helmet — three times — by accident. It had Brandon Dubinsky cross-checking Sidney Crosby in the neck, maybe not by accident.
It had Evgeni Malkin throwing haymakers at Jack Johnson — while Johnson’s arms were held by a linesman. So, it had dancing bears.
It also had overtime, a first for the Blue Jackets this season. It had a comeback victory for the home team, a rarity for the Jackets this season. It had a packed house at Nationwide Arena, another rarity. In fact, it was the first sellout since the opener.
The Jackets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 before an announced crowd of 18,205 on Friday night. Cam Atkinson scored the winning goal at 2:42 of overtime. Dubinsky assisted to put an end to a Duby kind of game.
“That’s the way it always is against these guys,” Dubinsky said. “They’re hard-fought games. Both teams create scoring chances, power plays, blocked shots, fights, scrums — it was a little bit of everything. We wouldn’t expect anything less against the Pens. That’s the way it always is when we plays those guys.”
Below, watch the Malkin fight plus game highlights...
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