Fleury makes late start, Penguins rush by Blue Jackets 3-1

Marc-Andre Fleury knows this too well, and some small part of him had to laugh at the incredible sports drama inversion that led him to start and win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

Marc-Andre Fleury spent the regular season saying all the right things – and just as importantly, doing all the right things – while watching Matt Murray take his job.

Game 3 will take place Sunday in Columbus. The points were his first of the postseason.

The Penguins won behind goals from Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino.

MONTREAL – Tanner Glass scored in the first period and Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves to help NY beat Montreal 2-0 in Game 1 of their first-round series.

And Wednesday night, Fleury was exceptional in the Penguins’ 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, making 31 saves on 32 shots.

The Penguins are up 2-0 in this series, outscoring the Blue Jackets 7-2, but the Blue Jackets have outplayed the Penguins for stretches.

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. “It was their first chance of the game”.

He made the most saves ever recorded against the Wild in their 16-season history. Columbus has scored more than three goals just once in its last 13 games.

It was Pittsburgh’s 100th home playoff win all-time (100-73).

The Stanley Cup playoffs come but once a year.

Throughout the past year, there’s been plenty of talk about the Penguins possibly shopping Fleury around to other teams and shipping him out of Pittsburgh.

“I think they put us on our heels a little bit, but I think we had a pretty good third period”, Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky said.

A melee broke out when Steve Ott flattened Zuccarello and it was the Rangers who seemed to get a lift from it as they tied it 9:58 into the second.

Columbus, one of the more physical teams in the league, briefly lost its cool late. Also, offensive guys in here, we’ve got to find a way to capitalize.

Reports from the team stated that Murray may have re-injured a groin issue he suffered during the New Jersey matchup last week, just under 10 minutes to go during warmups before Game 1. Not even when Matt Calvert snapped his stick by checking Tom Kuhnhackl from behind in the final minute. The Blue Jackets dished out 49 hits, including eight by Josh Anderson, six by Scott Hartnell and five by Boone Jenner.