Penguins’ Fleury to stay in net for Game 2 vs Blue Jackets

Columbus enters Game 2 at 2-9 all-time in the playoffs and 1-5 on the road.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were banged up in mid-March and needed a spark.

Blues goalie Jake Allen made 23 saves and looked just as steady between the pipes as he did Wednesday night.

The cross-check and subsequent hit came with 35 seconds left in a 4-1 loss that dropped the Blue Jackets into a 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven series. Fleury was brilliant in the Penguins 3-1 win.

EDMONTON, Alberta – Melker Karlsson scored at 3:22 of overtime and the San Jose Sharks came back to beat the Oilers on Wednesday in Game 1 of their Western Conference series.

“Quite frankly, I think we were running out of the way trying to hit guys too much”, coach Bruce Boudreau said. I want to be there to help them with that. “They did a good job of keeping pucks in tonight and that’s where we got hurt”. “So I don’t see why we can’t go in there and do the same thing to them that they did to us”.

Michael Grabner added an empty-net goal with 1:10 left. “They get a lot of traffic, they get some point shots and some guys who can get it through”.

Almost halfway through the period, Conor Sheary made a great chase for the puck in the offensive zone, beating Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to the puck. Columbus has scored more than three goals just once in its last 13 games.

Columbus Blue Jackets ice hockey player Matt Calvert may be in hot water. Tristan Jarry will be the Penguins’ backup goalie in Game 2 with Matt Murray (lower body) still unavailable.

Murray is out indefinitely, and Fleury now has 55 playoff wins in his club-record 102nd playoff appearance, one behind Tom Barrasso for the most in team history.

Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh.

“It was more like shoulder, neck”, Kuhnhackl said, according to NHL.com. “I figured if I got on him quick he’d have to make a quick decision, and I was able to create a turnover”. Additionally, the National Hockey League will likely suspend Calvert for the hit, despite the fact that he only landed a two-minute penalty for it during the game.

Police responded to the City of Steel Auto Detail shop in Pittsburgh where they found the 43-year-old man with a stab wound.

Columbus is a big, strong, deep team that surprised many in the season. Calvert then circled back and knocked Kuhnhackl to the ice with a forearm to the head. Calvert was only assessed a two-minute minor for cross-checking.

Sidney Crosby and the defending champion Penguins have looked impressive in jumping out to a 2-0 lead against the Blue Jackets.