[table id=39 /]

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Sullivan isn’t looking for an explanation. The Pittsburgh Penguins coach isn’t sure there is one that can adequately descdescr why his team dominates the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“All I can tell you is, every game we play them is a hard-fought battle and the margin for error is slim,” Sullivan said.
And every game ends the same: with the Penguins exchanging high-fives on their way to the dressing room while the Blue Jackets trudge off wondering how another one got away.
Matt Murray stopped 25 shots for his 10th career shutout and the Penguins opened a pivotal home-and-home with the Columbus by rolling to a 3-0 victory on Thursday night.
“We’re finding ways to win,” Sullivan said with a shrug.
The Penguins always seem to when the Blue Jackets are on the other side of the ice. Pittsburgh has won eight straight over Columbus. And while the Blue Jackets will get another shot at the Penguins at Nationwide Arena on Saturday night, Pittsburgh put on a defensive clinic in front of Murray to drop Columbus to just 2-4 since the trade deadline.
“I think we need something good to happen,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “They blocked 24 shots. We have a lot of shot attempts and a lot of good things, but we don’t score a goal.”
For the first time in more than a month, that wasn’t an issue for Penguins forward Phil Kessel, who ended a 16-game scoring drought when he beat surprise starter Joonas Korpisalo just 2:22 into the first period to give Pittsburgh a lead it would never relinquish. The crowd erupted when he banked a shot from in tight off a sprawled Korpisalo and into the net for his first goal since Jan. 30.
“I got lucky tonight,” Kessel said. “I thought it was going to come a little earlier than it did. It took me a little while. But hopefully now I can get a hot streak going or something.”
Nick Bjugstad collected his ninth of the season for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby took a high stick from Columbus’ Boone Jenner in the third period but returned to add an empty-net goal and extend his goal streak to six consecutive games as the Penguins created a little bit of breathing room between themselves and the Blue Jackets in the race for a playoff spot in the crowded Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division, dropping idle Carolina to the top wild-card spot. The Blue Jackets are currently on the outside looking in. While Korpisalo overcame his sluggish start to finish with 28 saves, his teammates couldn’t get anything by Murray.
Making his sixth straight start, Murray was solid. So were the guys in front of him. Pittsburgh’s defensemen — including recently acquired Erik Gudbranson — prevented Columbus from creating consistent pressure by making sure Murray had a clear line of vision.
“They’ve been stepping up big time, clearing guys out from the front and blocking shots,” Murray said. “They’re just sacrificing a lot. I can’t say enough about those guys back there.”
Tortorella tried to downplay the importance of his team’s final two meetings with the Penguins, though he made a curious decision to start Korpisalo — winless since Jan. 15 — over No. 1 goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, claiming the two-time Vezina Trophy winner needed to get some rest with the stretch looming.
The change in net did little to change the Blue Jackets’ fortunes. Defenseman Scott Harrington was called for tripping barely two minutes in and Pittsburgh pounced. Evgeni Malkin collected a shot behind the Blue Jackets’ net and fed Kessel at the far post.
Tortorella decided to challenge the goal, claiming goaltender’s interference, but the call stood and Tortorella burned his only timeout before most of his players had even broken a sweat. Murray kept the Blue Jackets at bay and Bjugstad finished off a sequence of extended pressure by collecting a pass from Jared McCann then pivoting into space in the slot before beating Korpisalo between the legs with 1:13 to go in the second for his fourth goal since being brought over in a trade with Florida on Feb. 1.
The chippy play between the rivals separated by three hours geographically but by considerably more in terms of stature perked up at times. Pittsburgh’s Garrett Wilson and Columbus captain Nick Foligno received fighting majors in the second period following a brawl that left Wilson’s forehead bloody. Jenner received a double-minor for high sticking Crosby early in the third.
Crosby returned to finish off Columbus with his 31st, leaving the Blue Jackets with one last chance to solve the Penguins this season.
“Scoring and not scoring are both contagious,” Columbus center Matt Duchene said. “All of us are obviously a little snake bit right now.”
NOTES: Penguins D Kris Letang missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury. … Pittsburgh is 9-1 while wearing its yellow third jerseys. … The Blue Jackets were 0 for 3 on the power play. The Penguins were 1 for 5. Malkin’s assist on Kessel’s goal pushed his career point total to 997.
UP NEXT
Blue Jackets: Columbus has issues at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets are just 17-16-2 at home this season.
Penguins: Pittsburgh hasn’t lost on the road to Columbus in the regular season since Feb. 17, 2017 (4-0).
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Conor Sheary scores 2 in Sabres’ 4-3 OT win over Penguins
By JOHN WAWROW, AP Hockey Writer
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Conor Sheary and the Buffalo Sabres aren’t ready to be counted out of the Eastern Conference playoff race just yet.
With Buffalo in jeopardy of fading further down the standings, Sheary assisted on Brandon Montour’s tying goal with 2:32 left in regulation and scored his second of the game with 49 seconds left in overtime in a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.
“We know at this point of the year we’ve got to press for every point we can get,” Sheary said. “So these two points were really important. I get the opportunity to be in some really good positions being out there in overtime, and I was able to take advantage.”
After both teams traded scoring chances, Sheary scored on a giveaway in the Penguins end. Marcus Pettersson’s pass up the left boards skipped off the stick of teammate Evgeni Malkin and directly to Sheary. He then cut into the middle and, using Phil Kessel as a screen, snapped a shot that beat goalie Matt Murray over his right shoulder.
The goal was allowed to stand after the NHL reviewed whether the Sabres were offside upon first entering the zone. Though a replay showed Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin crossing the blue line with the puck behind him, the league ruled Dahlin had possession.
“It was big. We’ve been in a rut late,” said Sabres captain Jack Eichel, who also scored. “It was awesome to see ‘Shears’ get rewarded against his old team.”
Scoring clutch goals was a key reason the Sabres acquired Sheary in trade with the Penguins last June. And though he’s only scored 11 times in 60 games for Buffalo, Sheary on Friday provided Buffalo a tremendous boost at time it was slipping out of the playoff race.
By improving to 2-5-1 in their past seven, the Sabres jumped into 11th place in the East, and now sit seven points back of eighth-place Columbus and Pittsburgh, which remained in ninth.
Linus Ullmark stopped 41 shots for Buffalo.
Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist scored power-play goals 63 seconds apart late in the second period, and Nick Bjugstad also had a goal for the Penguins. Crosby’s goal was the 439th of his career to move into a tie with Jaromir Jagr for second on the franchise list.
Murray stopped 26 shots as the Penguins dropped to 5-2-2 in their past nine.
With five weeks left in the season, the aging and injury-depleted Penguins are suddenly facing questions of potentially missing the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons.
“We need to fight. It’s not easy games anymore. We understand that it’s not easy and it’s a good challenge before the playoffs,” Malkin said.
Defenseman Erik Gudbranson made his Penguins debut since being acquired in a trade with Vancouver on Monday. In the meantime, defensemen Brian Dumoulin (concussion) and Kris Letang (upper body) missed their second straight game and have already been ruled out from playing at Montreal on Saturday.
“It’s frustrating for sure that we let a point get away because it was there to be had,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “But I thought for the most of the night we were the better team.”
The Penguins outshot Buffalo 44-30 overall, and went ahead 3-2 with 1:39 left in the second period when Hornqvist and Crosby scored with Sabres forward Scott Wilson serving a double-minor penalty for high sticking Pettersson.
The Sabres responded when Montour, playing in his first game in Buffalo since being acquired in a trade with Anaheim on Sunday, tied it by knuckling in a shot from the blue line that beat Murray on the right, glove side.
It marked Buffalo’s second consecutive overtime win over the Penguins. The Sabres rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat the Penguins 5-4 in overtime at Pittsburgh in November.
Despite the loss, the Penguins and Crosby continued their lengthy string of dominance over Buffalo.
Pittsburgh improved to 14-0-3 in its past 17 meetings, and hasn’t lost to the Sabres in regulation since Buffalo’s 4-2 win on April 23, 2013. And the Penguins improved to 8-0-2 in their past 10 visits to Buffalo since a 6-2 loss on Feb. 19, 2012.
Crosby has a point in 34 of 38 games against the Sabres — a stretch in which he has 20 goals and 39 assists.
NOTES: Sabres C Vladimir Sobotka is listed as day to day after sustaining an upper-body injury in 5-2 loss at Philadelphia on Tuesday. … Sabres D Marco Scandella was out with a lower-body injury. …. Hornqvist became just the second player selected last in the draft to appear in his 700th career game. He joined Kim Johnsson (selected 286th by Rangers in 1994), who played 739 games. Hornqvist was selected 230th overall by Nashville in 2005. … Linesman Brad Kovachik worked his 1,500th career game.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Conclude four-game road trip at Canadiens on Saturday.
Sabres: At Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
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By MITCH STACY, AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — After the Columbus Blue Jackets beefed up their roster at the NHL trade deadline for a Metropolitan Division playoff run, the injury-plagued Pittsburgh Penguins came to town looking more vulnerable than usual.
Missing some top defensemen, the Penguins jumped out to a three-goal lead anyway and then held off the new-look Blue Jackets, cruising to a 5-2 win Tuesday night in a game marked by monster hits and scuffles.
Jared McCann scored twice and Matt Murray made 21 saves as Pittsburgh — which began the day tied for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference — snapped a two-game skid.
The Penguins were without blue-liners Kris Letang (upper body) and Brian Dumoulin (concussion), who were hurt in the outdoor game Saturday at Philadelphia. Pittsburgh defenseman Ollie Maata was already on injured reserve with a separated shoulder.
But the Penguins held Columbus in check, even after another defenseman, Chad Ruhwedel, went out after a big hit from Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno. Ruhwedel and wing Bryan Rust, injured in a violent collision with Columbus newcomer Adam McQuaid, will be evaluated Wednesday, coach Mike Sullivan said.
Jake Guentzel, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby also scored for Pittsburgh.
“We’ve got nothing but character in here, for sure,” Murray said. “It’s tough seeing teammates go down, they were important guys for us, so we had a job to do and tonight everybody stepped up, so it was awesome to see.”
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson scored and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots for the Blue Jackets, who lost after posting back-to-back shutouts last week and making a flurry of moves before Monday’s trade deadline. Columbus started the day in third place in the division.
Columbus added center Matt Duchene, wing Ryan Dzingel, defenseman McQuaid and goalie Keith Kinkaid. All but Kinkaid played on Tuesday night, with Dzingel, a former star at Ohio State, picking up an assist for his new team.
Crosby sent a centering pass from the left corner to Guentzel in the slot and he went top shelf on Bobrovsky with 6:15 left in the first period to open the scoring.
McCann made it 2-0 late in the period when he rifled one in with the unwitting assistance of Columbus defender David Savard, who appeared to keep Bobrovsky from seeing the puck until it was past him. Malkin extended it to 3-0 early in the second with a long, rising shot from the left point.
“They’re an opportunistic team,” Foligno said. “They’re quick-strike, they don’t need many chances to score goals. Disappointing that we didn’t show up in the first (period). We can’t get in a hole like that.”
Bjorkstrand got Columbus on the board when he charged in and shot over Murray’s glove later in the second, and Atkinson scored his team-leading 35th goal on a power play when Artemi Panarin’s hard shot deflected right to him in the right circle.
But the Blue Jackets couldn’t tie it.
McCann banged a wrist shot past Bobrovsky with 6:33 left in the game, and Crosby scored an empty-net goal with five seconds remaining, giving the Penguins superstar a goal and an assist on the evening. He has 27 goals and 50 assists this season.
“We came out hard, kind of let up there in the second but had to find a way to get two points,” Murray said.
NOTES: Columbus forward Boone Jenner played in his 400th game with the Blue Jackets. … D Erik Gudbranson, obtained Monday from Vancouver, didn’t play for Pittsburgh because he’s going through the immigration process.
UP NEXT
Penguins: At the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Blue Jackets: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
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