Malkin gets three points in Penguins win against Blue Jackets

PITTSBURGH --Evgeni Malkin made sure the Pittsburgh Penguins avoided another lopsided home loss on Wednesday.
With the Penguins trailing by two goals late in the third period, Malkin scored before having a secondary assist on Jake Guentzel's tying goal. He then scored in the shootout to help Pittsburgh defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 at PPG Paints Arena.

After Artemi Panarin's second goal made it 4-2 at 10:02 of the third period, Malkin cut it to 4-3 with a power-play goal at 14:24, and Guentzel tied it 4-4 at 18:20. The Penguins scored three goals in the third period, including a power-play goal from Phil Kessel that cut the Blue Jackets lead to 3-2 at 3:34.
Guentzel credited Malkin and Patric Hornqvist for setting up his goal. Malkin left the puck behind the net for Hornqvist to wrap around out front for a one-timer from Guentzel.
WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Penguins highlights]
"Great play by [Malkin] and [Hornqvist]," Guentzel said. "I just tried to stay in front of the net there. Definitely happy to see that one go in. … Definitely a character win tonight. When you're down two in the third it's definitely going to be battle-tested. I thought we pushed to the end."
Malkin scored in the first round of the shootout and Sidney Crosby scored in the second. Matt Murray stopped Panarin in the second round for the win.
After criticizing his team's effort following a 4-0 home loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was proud of the response Wednesday.

"That's one of the things we talked about after the game," Sullivan said. "It was a real character win. I thought it was the most resilient that this group has been all year long. Just the never-say-die attitude. … And just staying with it.
"We were down two goals a couple of times in the game, but we just stayed with it. That's been part of the fabric of the identity of this group. It has become a strength of this group. It has to continue to be that way."
Crosby seemed to score the winning goal 23 seconds into overtime, but it was overturned following a review, where it was ruled Brian Dumoulin interfered with Sergei Bobrovsky.
Pittsburgh (19-16-3) has defeated Columbus (22-14-2) in two of its past three games. The Penguins won 3-2 in a shootout Dec. 21.

Just as he was after that shootout loss, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella was disappointed with Columbus' inability to hold a third-period lead, but was pleased with how it performed.
"I liked our third period, quite honestly," Tortorella said. "But we end up gravitating, chasing the puck. … We just have to hold the front of the net. That's where they're going to score their goals, if they're going to score. So we just leave that area open. We chase the puck."
Murray made 29 saves, and Bobrovsky made 33.
Sonny Milano and Boone Jenner scored in the first period to give Columbus a 2-0 lead.
Milano opened the scoring after Seth Jones' slap shot went off the glass behind Pittsburgh's net and bounced out front. Milano collected it and, with Murray turned around in his crease, shot past Jamie Oleksiak and into the net at 9:06.

Jenner made it 2-0 at 14:34 to end a 16-game goal drought.
Conor Sheary cut it to 2-1 at 5:57 of the second period. He skated down the far wall to the right circle, where he shot under Bobrovsky's blocker before Panarin scored his first goal to make it 3-1 at 16:49.
Penguins forward Bryan Rust and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel each left with an apparent injury during the third period. Sullivan did not update their status.

Goal of the game

Guentzel's goal at 18:20 of the third period.

Save of the game

Murray stopping a wrist shot from Pierre-Luc Dubois at 14:00 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Panarin's first goal, at 16:49 of the second period.

They said it

"We stuck with it and had some really good chances throughout the game, but they didn't go in. … I think we just stuck with it and found a way there at the end to get two points." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby
"We get a huge two-goal lead and all of a sudden they come back and then, boom, another two-goal lead. You have to find a way, once you do that, to win a hockey game. That's on us."-- Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno

Need to know

The Blue Jackets, whose power play went 0-for-3, failed to score a power-play goal for the first time in five games. They were 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) in their previous four games and 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) in their previous nine. … Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, did not play. He is last on the Penguins with a minus-15 rating.

What's next

Blue Jackets: At the Ottawa Senators on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Penguins:At the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)