The Penguins lead the first round series over the Blue Jackets 1-0, but this series is still far from over.
A Jackets’ win over the Penguins in Game 1 would have been great — it would have put Pittsburgh on its heels heading into Game 2 at home.
Instead, tonight’s opening game ended with a slight 4-3 victory by the Penguins, even after the Blue Jackets held a 3-1 lead at the 43 second mark into the second period.
As the Jackets have shown throughout the season, they won’t just back down and take the series as a lesson from a team that has qualified for the playoffs in each of the past eight seasons, including this year.
“We aren’t here just to go to school. We’re here to win,” Columbus coach Todd Richards said in a post-game press conference. “We got our feet wet. We know what to expect, and we'll get focused for Saturday now.”
The series started with physicality and it lasted the duration of game one, leading all to believe that this will be occurring this all series long.
Columbus edged Pittsburgh 48-27 in hits, including nine from center Brandon Dubinsky and seven from 21-year-old forward Boone Jenner in his first career Stanley Cup Playoff game.
Both teams seemed to get frustrated by the physical play of the opponent, but Jenner and company visibly got in the head of Penguins star center Evgeni Malkin numerous times during the game.
Being so close to taking game one on the road will eat up at the Blue Jackets’ players, but there’s no doubt that being that close will add fuel to the fire for Game 2 Saturday.
Columbus looks to be getting 11-year veteran forward RJ Umberger back in the lineup for Saturday’s game, as he’s been out with an upper-body injury for the past two weeks. Forward Nick Foligno may be healthy enough to play Saturday as well, but that will be known more in the next three days.
I have been saying all week long that this series may come down to the play of both goalies, but neither played to the level that they are both able to, besides a few desperation saves by Jackets’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky while Columbus was stuck in its own zone.
Instead, this series may come down to the play of the young talent on both teams, along with the third and fourth lines’ play.
21-year-old center Ryan Johansen led the Jackets in goals during the regular season with 33, which ranked 12th in the entire NHL. In 19:59 of playing time on Wednesday, he recorded a minus-one rating with three shots and three hits. His play in the remaining games of the series will be key for the Blue Jackets, especially if they want to steal Saturday's tilt.
With a couple players looking to come back from injuries for Columbus on Saturday, along with a team that may as well being playing with a pissed-off mentality after letting game one slip away, you can expect nothing less than an exciting and electric matchup on Saturday, just like Wednesday’s game.
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@Alex_Busch91
