Malkin scores twice, Penguins rally past Blue Jackets

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin scored two goals, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins rally from down a goal twice for a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

“That’s huge for ‘Geno,’” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s big for the team. Hopefully, it’ll give him a boost of confidence here moving forward.” 

Sidney Crosby had two assists, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 17 saves for the Penguins (32-30-10), who have won their past two games and are 11-0-1 against the Blue Jackets since Dec. 12, 2019. 

The Penguins moved to within seven points of the Washington Capitals for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Washington lost 5-1 at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Cole Sillinger had a goal and an assist, and Daniil Tarasov made 33 saves for the Blue Jackets (23-38-12), who have lost six straight (0-5-1) and nine of 10. 

“Coming into this building, guys on the other team, playing guys like Crosby, there is, for sure, not a lack of energy when you see a guy like that on the other side of the ice,” Sillinger said. “We haven't won in this barn in however many years. We had a good opportunity tonight. Unfortunately, we didn't get the job done. 

“It's frustrating. When you talk about effort, the effort should be there every night. It's the NHL.”

Columbus is 0-10-5 in Pittsburgh since a 2-1 win on Nov. 13, 2015.

“Obviously, three years of my time and a long time for other guys,” Sillinger said. “Know we had new faces here that were playing their first game in this barn. Obviously, would've been nice to change that story. But on to the next one.”

Dmitri Voronkov seemed to put the Blue Jackets ahead at 16:19 of the first period, but the goal was immediately waved off after it was determined he used a high stick to deflect a point shot from Jake Christiansen.

Mathieu Olivier then gave Columbus a 1-0 lead five seconds after a power play expired at 5:20 of the second period, redirecting a shot from Damon Severson and batting in the rebound out of midair. The goal was upheld when a review showed Olivier’s stick was not above the crossbar.

"Everyone goes through it. It's how you handle it,” Olivier said of adversity. "We didn't get the result tonight. Going to have to watch the tape to dissect that one. It's unfortunate.”

Malkin tied it 1-1 on a power play at 9:50, scoring with a one-timer from the top the right face-off circle off a pass from Kris Letang.

“I feel pretty good tonight. I feel confident,” Malkin said. “I want to say thanks to ‘Tanger.’ He gave me lots of good passes. He gave them slow, how I like it. Because we’ve played together (for) 17 years, he knows what I like. In between legs, slow pass. It worked tonight, but it's only one game. I hope it works (in the) next game too.”

Sillinger put Columbus back in front 2-1 on a 3-on-1 rush at 13:11, dropping to a knee for a one-timer off a return pass from Alexandre Texier. It ended a 12-game goal drought.

"They showed up. They showed up today,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “We played with pace, but most importantly, we talked about adversity this morning. We faced adversity the proper way. We tried to make the right plays. We tried to play the proper way, the right way for three periods."

Malkin scored another power-play goal to tie it 2-2 at 16:11. He held the puck in the left circle and waited for traffic to clear before slipping a wrist shot five-hole.

Drew O'Connor gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead 35 seconds into the third period, taking a pass from Crosby for a snap shot from the left circle.

Crosby has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past three games.

“We just need to keep going,” Crosby said. “You've got to keep learning with every game and making sure that we're trying to get better here."

NOTES: Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Graves did not play the final two periods with an upper-body injury. He continued to be evaluated after the game, Sullivan said. ... Crosby reached 1,580 points (585 goals, 995 assists), passing Ray Bourque (1,579) for the 11th in NHL history. He is 10 points behind Phil Esposito (1,590) in 10th. ... Malkin reached 20 goals for a 15th NHL season, tying Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane for the third most among active players behind Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (19) and Crosby (16). ... The Blue Jackets were outshot 26-11 in the second and third period.