Nyquist's hat trick helps Blue Jackets top Penguins

COLUMBUS --Gustav Nyquist got his second NHL hat trick, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

Nyquist completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal to make it 5-2 at 19:01 of the third period, outskating Penguins defenseman Kris Letang to the loose puck 11 seconds after his tripping penalty expired.
"He was out there a long time, and I came from the penalty box," said Nyquist, whose only other NHL hat trick came with the Detroit Red Wings against the Washington Capitals on Feb. 2, 2014. "Bad penalty by me up two goals in the game when they are starting to push. I've got to be better."
WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Nick Foligno scored twice, and Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets (11-10-4), who have won five of their past seven games.
Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin had two assists, and Tristan Jarry made 25 saves for the Penguins (14-8-4), who had their six-game point streak end.

"I just don't think we played well enough tonight to win," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "It's as simple as that."
Nyquist gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 5:21 of the first period when Oliver Bjorkstrand's initial shot redirected in off his back.
Bjorkstrand has nine points (two goals, seven assists) during a six-game point streak.
"They put a lot of pressure on us," Jarry said. "They retrieved a lot of pucks. It made it tough for us to break out. We turned it over, and it hurt us."
Guentzel tied it 1-1 at 17:57, converting on a 2-on-1 with Malkin. Guentzel has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) during a seven-game point streak.

The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 13-3 in the first period.
"We didn't play hard enough, we didn't play smart enough," Sullivan said. "It's hard to win when you get outplayed the way we did early in the game."
Foligno scored 26 seconds into the second period to make it 2-1, stealing the puck from Malkin in the neutral zone before scoring blocker side.
"I love the way we played tonight," Foligno said. "We all answered and thought about what happened last game (3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday) and we wanted to rectify individually as a player.
"Every guy stepped up his game tonight. That's the result we get from it."
Nyquist extended the lead to 3-1 at 2:52 of the second with a backhand between the circles on the power play. Defenseman Zach Werenski had an assist, his 100th in the NHL.
Foligno scored a power-play goal to make it 4-1 at 15:09 of the second. He has three goals in the past two games after scoring one in the first 20 games this season.

"You can't take that many penalties," Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist said. "That's where it starts. We've got to stay out of the box. If we keep it to one, two, three a game, I think our killers have been doing a great job. It's when you're taking four, five, six, seven penalties they get tired and the seams open up."
Letang cut it to 4-2 at 5:20 of the third period with a slap shot from the top of the right circle.

They said it

"They were all over us all over the ice 5-on-5, 5-on-4, 4-on-5. They were the better team." -- Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist
"I think the biggest improvement we made as a team tonight is we made some plays. We didn't ice pucks. We weren't flipping pucks all night long. We were in position for our D to make more plays. It's something that was a major weakness in our last game." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Need to know

Penguins forward Bryan Rust did not play after falling into the boards during the morning skate. Forward Joseph Blandisi was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, but he did not arrive in time. As a result, the Penguins dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen. … Malkin has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the past two games and 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in his past seven games. … The Blue Jackets have scored first in 10 straight games, tying their record set from Dec. 19, 2013-Jan. 10, 2014. … Werenski has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the past nine games. … Columbus went 2-for-4 on the power play. Pittsburgh was 0-for-4.

What's next

Penguins:At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets:At the New York Islanders on Saturday (Barclays Center; 7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-O, NHL.TV)