Crosby, Penguins rally from down 3, top Blue Jackets in OT for 5th win in row

COLUMBUS -- Sidney Crosby scored at 2:22 of overtime, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from a three-goal, second-period deficit for their fifth straight win, 5-4 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Sunday.

With the goal, Crosby became the first player in NHL history to record 50 career overtime points (25 goals, 25 assists).

“I thought for different points there we might have sat back a little bit,” Crosby said. “They got some momentum, and sometimes it's just human nature, but I think when we started to climb back into it, we were on our toes.”

Rickard Rakell tied it 4-4 with 14 seconds left in the third period from the slot off a pass from Crosby with Arturs Silovs pulled for the extra attacker.

The Penguins then caught the Blue Jackets on a line change and former Columbus forward Yegor Chinakhov passed to Erik Karlsson, who found an open Crosby for the winner.

“It was a great pass, great poise,” Crosby said. “To have that poise at that point in the game at the blue line is not easy and he put it on my stick, so it was a big play from him. Obviously, a lot of big plays that led up to us coming back into it.”

Tommy Novak and Noel Acciari also scored, and Ben Kindel had two assists for the Penguins (20-12-9), who have won six of seven. Silovs made 21 saves.

Pittsburgh was coming off a 4-1 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko each had a goal and an assist, and Denton Mateychuk had two assists for the Blue Jackets (18-16-7), who were coming off a 5-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres that ended Buffalo’s 10-game winning streak. Jet Greaves made 38 saves.

On Nov. 28 in Columbus, the Penguins scored three unanswered goals in the third period and overtime to win 4-3 on a Kris Letang goal.

“For whatever reason, I think our energy dropped and when your energy drops, your play drops and you kind of sit back and that's what happened,” Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner said. “We just kind of watched them take it to us.

“We’ve got to close that one out. Obviously, there's been a number of games where it's hurting us with third-period leads and to get to where we want to get to, we’ve got to close them out, obviously.”

Ville Koivunen gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 1:50 of the first period. Greaves left a rebound of a Jack St. Ivany shot that was tipped by Kindel and Koivunen was alone at the left post for a backhander.

Dmitri Voronkov tied it 1-1 at 8:21 with a redirect of a Mateychuk shot for his second goal in as many games.

Mason Marchment put Columbus ahead 2-1 at 8:48 by following Adam Fantilli’s break to put in the rebound. Marchment has seven points (five goals, two assists) in seven games since being acquired from the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 19.

Marchenko extended it to 3-1 at 18:38 with a low-angle shot from the left side on Werenski’s 300th NHL assist.

Werenski scored 47 seconds into the second period to push it to 4-1 with a snap shot through traffic.

Acciari cut it to 4-2 at 16:51 after a giveaway left him open in front.

“I was alone at the net and I saw [Connor Dewar] get the puck, so I just waited for it there and luckily it bounced straight to me,” he said.

Novak’s power-play goal from the high slot made it 4-3 at 3:28 of the third period.

“I just think the momentum shifted there in the second period and then we made a couple of other unintelligent plays, and it ended up in our net,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said.

Penguins coach Dan Muse agreed that Acciari’s goal changed the momentum.

“It's a huge goal at the end of the second,” he said. “I feel like that totally changed the feel of the game, the feel coming into the locker room. So, I think the timing of Acciari’s goal, that really carried over there into the third period.”

NOTES: Crosby scored his 112th career game-winning goal (including playoffs) and tied Guy Lafleur for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time list. Wayne Gretzky (115) sits in ninth. Crosby also became the fourth player in NHL history to register 20 career three-goal comeback wins. The others: Kevin Lowe (21), Mark Messier (21) and Steve Yzerman (21). … Crosby has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) on a seven-game point streak. ... Werenski has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) during a personal seven-game point streak.