Penguins lose to Blue Jackets in overtime, 2-1

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin scored his club’s only goal midway through the third period, but the Penguins couldn’t hold the tenuous lead.

The good news is that the Blue Jackets did, in fact, win the game in Newark, despite an effort that was a disorganized mess after a solid first period.

Columbus Blue Jackets’ Cam Atkinson, right, celebrates his winning… “He was behind me, and I felt it”.

The Blue Jackets earned the win in a chippy 2-1 overtime thriller, but the story of the game revolved around a Brandon Dubinsky cross-check to the neck of Sidney Crosby.

Atkinson’s game-winner – set up by a pass from Dubinsky – soured a sensational night for Fleury, who made 41 saves. Or did he break it seconds later when he two-handed it into Crosby’s crumbled torso beneath him, before casting it away and heading to the penalty box?

“I don’t try to do anything dirty”, Dubinsky said. “He’s kind of bent over there in front [of the net]”. We’re constantly trying to slow the play down instead of trying to get the pace back up again. As Crosby went to the ice in pain, the Columbus player gave him another shove in the back. I think the stick rode up a little bit, but it wasn’t malicious or vicious or too hard in my opinion…I’m not out there to injure anybody.

The NHL is still deliberating. The St. Louis Blues are averaging 2.7 goals per game and are scoring on 18.1 percent of their power plays. Dubinsky will likely face some discipline from the National Hockey League for the hit. “I’m probably not surprised that if I was going to get one of those shots that it would be from (Dubinsky)”. Defensively, the St. Louis Blues are allowing 2.5 goals per game and are killing 85.1 percent of their power play chances. Blue Jackets forwards Boone Jenner and Matt Calvert were particularly combative, as were Penguins forwards Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin, and Patric Hornqvist.

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Marc-Andre Fleury, right, protects the net as Columbus Blue Jackets’ William Karlsson, of Sweden, tries to control the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Columbus, Ohio.

It marked the first time the Blue Jackets have tested the NHL’s 3-on-3 overtime system. Predictably (and justifiably) had a fan just tuned in for John Tortorella’s post-game press scrum, it would have been assumed that the game had been a loss… a bad one. They both went off for roughing. “We’re still taking too many penalties, but there are certain penalties that are good penalties, and a couple of those happened tonight”.