Talbot makes 20 saves in debut, Blue Jackets recover to top Penguins in shootout

COLUMBUS – Cam Talbot made 20 saves and stopped all three shootout attempts in his Columbus Blue Jackets debut, a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

Talbot signed a one-year, $950,000 contract on Sept. 14 after playing the past two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.

“I just tried to keep focus, talk a lot, play the puck whenever I could, and just focus on whatever shots were coming my way," said Talbot, who faced just three shots in the first period. “The guys did an unbelievable job to start. We were all over them,  controlled the pace to that game from pretty much start to finish.”

The 39-year-old goalie earned a win with his ninth NHL franchise, the most by any goaltender in NHL history. The only others to win with at least eight different franchises are Sean Burke, Ron Tugnutt and Curtis McElhinney, who spent four seasons with the Blue Jackets.

“He was a veteran who knows how to play,” Columbus coach Rick Bowness said of Talbot. “He knows how to keep himself in the game, right? He's been around.”

Damon Severson had a goal and an assist in his season debut, Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Cole Sillinger had two assists for the Blue Jackets (2-1-0).

Kent Johnson scored the lone goal in the shootout for Columbus.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins (2-2-1), who have lost three straight (0-2-1).

Sergei Murashov made 43 saves, including 23 in the second period.

“He played really well. He made some huge saves. He did his part. I thought we found our game more in the third period,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “But you can't just play for 20 minutes. I think once 'Rusty' scored that goal, we built momentum off of it and we carried it into the third period.

“But again, when you're not creating and you're spending as much time defending as we did there for the first almost two periods, it becomes difficult to get yourself back to where you want to be.”

Severson put the Blue Jackets up 1-0 at 10:52 of the first period with a one-timer from the left face-off circle off a cross-ice pass by Zach Werenski. 

Severson missed the first two games of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery on April 2.

“I was still just figuring out the game,” Severson said. “I just tried to keep it simple. Tried to make the easy plays when they were in front of me.

“And obviously was gifted a backdoor from (Werenski) and then he always just puts one in there. So just get involved, try and do my thing offensively, kind of instincts. But defensively just trying to keep it simple.”

Olivier increased the lead to 2-0 at 11:40 of the second period with a shot from the right circle that went in off Murashov’s skate at the right post.

Rust cut the deficit to 2-1 at 14:30 with a strong move to the net around Severson before tucking the puck around Talbot's left pad.

“It was hard to turn the game around, to get momentum,” Murashov said. “But thanks to Rusty, he scored a really important goal and we were able to come back to the game and get one point.

“I really appreciate all the efforts from the guys because we basically earned the point just because of their attitude, their hard work.”

Malkin tied it 2-2 at 3:19 of the third period. Erik Karlsson's slap shot deflected off the stick of Olivier and hit off Malkin as it fluttered through traffic before going into the net.

“We got a big goal from Rusty there, and then 'Gino,'” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “So, we started to find our game there later as it went.”

Crosby was not used in the shootout. Instead, Muse opted for Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel.

“Sid's definitely in the mix,” Muse said. “It's just, there's a number of guys and you're making that decision based on right now. But he's definitely going to be a guy, too, who we look to in the future.”

NOTES: Talbot (39 years, 96 days) became the oldest goaltender in Blue Jackets history to record a win with the franchise. The previous mark was held by Fredrik Norrena (34 years, 336 days on Oct. 30, 2008). ... Rust has goals in consecutive games after missing the first three with an upper-body injury. ... This was the fifth straight game between the teams that was decided past regulation. Last season, the Blue Jackets won two shootouts (Oct. 25, 2025 and Jan. 17, 2026), and the Penguins won twice in overtime (Nov. 28, 2025 and Jan. 4, 2026).