The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Columbus Blue Jackets in their second game of the best-of-seven on Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins opened up a big 3-0 lead in the second period and never looked back in an eventual 3-1 victory. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury picked up the win as he saved 31-of-32 Shots On Goal. Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky took the loss as he saved 26-of-29. Columbus continues their struggles on the road, going just 30-78 in their last 108 road games against teams with a high winning percentage at home. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM Eastern time on NBC Sports Network.
Can the Blue Jackets respond?
Columbus wasn't able to get a goal in the first two periods. Only one penalty was called in the first period, but it was a solid clash against two physical teams with plenty of hits between the clubs. The Blue Jackets fired at will and had a 16-3 shots on goal advantage in the first period, but it didn't result in any goals. The script was flipped in the second, and Pittsburgh responded with three goals to essentially put the game out of reach. Matt Calvert finally got his team on the board at the 12:41 mark of the final period, but it was too little, too late.
There have been no recent injury updates for the Blue Jackets. Calvert picked up his second goal in back-to-back games, and he also recorded an assist in the season finale against Toronto.
Penguins look to hold serve at home
After a slow start in the first period, Pittsburgh turned things on in the second frame. Bryan Rust got things going right out of the break with a goal at the 1:15 mark. Phil Kessel complimented that with a power play goal two and a half minutes later -- he was also on the assist of the first goal.
Evgeni Malkin was on the assist for both goals. Nick Bonino capped off the scoring to put the Penguins up to a commanding 3-0 lead at the 16:25 mark. Only two of the team's players were called for penalties.
Goalie Matt Murray (32-10-4) will continue to be out for Pittsburgh. He missed the first game of the series. Defender Chad Ruhwedel (10 pts) also missed the first game but is questionable for the game on Friday night as he continues to deal with an upper-body injury.
Betting on Penguins and Blue Jackets
Pittsburgh remains a steady -150 favorite on the moneyline at home. It's a similar story for Columbus at +130. The Penguins have now won five of the last seven meetings in this matchup. The Blue Jackets are just 1-6 in their last seven road games and are 0-5 in their last 5 matchups against Metropolitan teams.
