Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1
Steve Mason stopped 32 shots to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Centre on Tuesday night.
Rick Nash and Jakub Voracek both scored a goal and earned an assist for Columbus, who have won three games in a row. Samuel Pahlsson and Antoine Vermette also lit the lamp for the Blue Jackets.
Columbus Coach Scott Arneil praised the way his side played. He said "We'll take a victory in this building against a real good club. We came out strong and never let up. It was a real solid road game for us."
Tyler Kennedy supplied the lone offence with a goal, while Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 21 shots for Pittsburgh, who have lost their previous two contests after winning five consecutive play-offs.
Columbus opened the scoring just six minutes into the first period to take a 1-0 lead. The goal came when Derick Brassard slipped a hard pass from the top of the left circle to the low right circle for Nash, who dropped to one knee and fired a one-timer
for his 24th goal of the 2010-11 season. The Blue Jackets then got an opportunity to score on a three minute power-play, but the team failed to capitalise.
However, the second goal of the game went to the Blue Jackets, who doubled their advantage just eight minutes into the middle frame. R.J. Umberger released a shot from the left circle that Fleury saved, but the rebound trickled out front, where it defelcted
off the skate of Pahlsson and found its way into the net.
With less than three minutes left in the middle stanza, the Blue jackets struck again to extend their lead to 3-0. Nash lifted the puck high and it floated right inside the blue line in the offensive zone. Voracek chased down the puck and flipped a backhander
past Fleury for his 10th goal of the year.
The Penguins finally got back in the game to cut the deficit to 3-1 just seven and a half minutes into the final period. During a power play, Kennedy carried the puck to the left circle from behind the net and fired a wrist shot into the left corner of the
cage.
Columbus though, regained their three-goal advantage, at 4-1 six minutes later. The goal was set up when a turnover in the offensive end resulted in a short 2-on-1 and Vermette chased his own rebound to knock it home and seal the win.
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