Blue Jackets recover, top Penguins in shootout for 4th straight win

PITTSBURGH -- Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves, and the Columbus Blue Jackets recovered for a 4-3 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins after Sidney Crosby scored a tying goal with 1:01 remaining in the third period at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Merzlikins made six saves in overtime. He allowed Egor Chinakhov to score in the third round of the shootout, but stopped Rickard Rakell, Crosby and Bryan Rust. Kent Johnson and Charlie Coyle scored for Columbus.

“Doesn’t matter how we get to overtime. We’re there,” Coyle said. “Let’s take care of business. ... You go into a game, and you want two [points] and them zero, but it’s a hard league. We get two, they get one at the end of the day. We, of course, take that.”

Crosby, who also had an assist, tied it 3-3 by redirecting a slap pass from Kris Letang to the right of the net for his 26th goal this season.

“It was a tight game,” Crosby said. “We had chances. They had some chances. I mean, it was pretty even, relative to the score. I think we would have liked to have our power play be a little sharper and maybe the difference. But yeah, even overtime, we possessed the puck a lot. Unfortunately, couldn't get the next one.”

Kirill Marchenko, Zach Aston-Reese and Danton Heinen scored for the Blue Jackets (22-19-7), who have won four straight, including three since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as coach on Monday.

“Elite players over there, man. They know how to win,” Bowness said. “Give them credit. They made a great play (on Crosby’s goal). ... Listen, we could have had a 4-2, 5-2 lead before that point. So, give their goalie credit. He kept them in the game.”

Arturs Silovs made 22 saves, and Rakell and Connor Clifton scored for the Penguins (22-14-11), who have lost four of five (1-2-2). They are 4-11 when a game reaches overtime and 1-7 when it gets to a shootout.

“It’s costing us points, so we're going to continue to work at it,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “I think each night, there's a different story to it. I thought ‘Arty’ made a couple big saves, gave us a chance in it today. We also need to score goals. So, it's both sides.

“We’ve got to put work on both sides. ... It's obviously costing us, so we have to continue to address it.”

Aston-Reese put Columbus ahead 1-0 on its second shot on goal at 2:42 of the first period. A slap shot from Zach Werenski hit Pittsburgh forward Noel Acciari and went to Aston-Reese, who scored his first goal in 25 games this season on a wrist shot from the slot.

Clifton tied it 1-1 at 9:59 with his first goal of the season, a snap shot through traffic and past Merzlikins’ glove from the right face-off circle.

Rakell gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 17:52 by chipping in a pass Crosby sent out front from the far corner.

Marchenko tied it 2-2 at 7:32 of the second period, beating Crosby to a loose puck and driving to the right circle for a wrist shot to score his 18th goal this season and eighth in the past 13 games.

Heinen put Columbus in front 3-2 at 17:38. He deflected a point shot from Erik Gudbranson for his first goal in eight games since being acquired in a trade that sent Chinakhov to Pittsburgh on Dec. 29.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say it felt good,” Heinen said. “But the win definitely feels better. Just try to keep this thing going. ... That's a team we're chasing. So, I think everybody realizes how big it was."

NOTES: The Blue Jackets have won twice in Pittsburgh in the same season for the first time since entering the NHL in 2000. They won 5-4 in a shootout here on Oct. 25. ... Crosby factored on a game-tying goal in the third period for the 108th time of his career, passing Jaromir Jagr (107) for the third-most in League history behind Wayne Gretzky (135) and Mark Messier (112). ... The Blue Jackets and Penguins played past regulation in each of their four meetings. After the shootout loss on Oct. 25, Pittsburgh won 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 28 and 5-4 in overtime on Jan. 4. ... Columbus defenseman Dante Fabbro left midway through the first period with a lower-body injury. He will be evaluated on Sunday, Bowness said.