Empty Thoughts: Blue Jackets 5, Penguins 2

Observations from the Penguins’ 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – First things first, there was no update on forward Bryan Rust beyond coach Mike Sullivan acknowledging Rust was indeed injured following the game.

Rust tumbled into the boards feet-first during Friday’s morning skate at Nationwide Arena and limped off the ice towards the dressing room. He returned a few minutes later and worked on a drill with the top power-play unit.

He was not available to reporters after the skate but could be seen limping through the dressing room. After the skate, Sullivan described Rust as “fine” but a few hours later, the team recalled forward Joseph Blandisi from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Due to the logistics of getting from Northeastern Pennsylvania - the AHL Penguins were in Allentown on Friday - to Central Ohio on only a few hours notice, Blandisi was not available for the lineup and instead, the team dressed defenseman Juuso Riikola as a forward for the fourth time this season.

Rust’s status for Saturday’s road game against the St. Louis Blues remains uncertain.

As far as the game goes, it certainly was a clunker for the visitors.

The Penguins haven’t played many truly bad games this season. Sure, they have plenty of losses where they played well but didn’t get a break or maybe made a crucial mistake or two that hurt them.

But you could probably count the number of bad games they’ve played in 2019-20 on one hand.

This contest might be the one you count with a middle finger. It was that wretched.

They fumbled the puck all over the ice with poor decisions or just sloppy stick work. The penalty kill and the power play units seemed to be determined to “out-bad” each other. And there were just way too many penalties.

They looked like most of us do when we go back to work after Thanksgiving. Just not engaged with the task at hand.

“It was everything,” said Sullivan, who carpeted the entire effort with criticism. “We didn’t play hard enough, we didn’t play smart enough. It’s hard to win when you get outplayed the way we did early in the game. Having said that, we survived it 1-1 (after the first period). I just don’t think we played well enough tonight, we didn’t play well enough to win. It’s as simple as that.”

What happened

Columbus took the game’s first lead 5:21 into regulation. After Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist forced Penguins defenseman Zach Trotman into a turnover in the Penguins’ left circle, Blue Jackets forward Oliver Bjorkstrand claimed the puck and launched a wrister from the high slot. Nyquist had moved into position above the crease and allowed the puck to deflect off his derrière and past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s glove hand. Bjorkstrand had the lone assist.

Rust’s replacement on the top line figured in on the Penguins’ opening goal. Forward Dominik Simon chipped a puck past a pinch by Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones at the Penguins’ right point and allowed forward Evgeni Malkin to create a two-on-one with forward Jake Guentzel. Pushing play up the left wing, Malkin saucered a pass from the left circle over sliding Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski to the opposite circle. Guentzel settled the puck, took a moment and waited for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to open his five hole. Guentzel’s patience paid off as he snapped off a quick wrister through Korpisalo’s legs for his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Malkin and Simon netted assists.

The Blue Jackets reclaimed a lead, 2-1, only 26 seconds into the second. Stealing a puck off of a botched drop pass from Malkin to defenseman Brian Dumoulin at the Penguins’ blue line, Foligno roared in on net from the left wing and fired a wrister past Jarry’s blocker on the far side. The score was unassisted.

A power-play goal gave the Blue Jackets a 3-1 advantage at 2:52 of the second. Taking a pass from forward Pierre-Luc Dubois in the left circle, Nyquist avoided teammate Boone Jenner, who was shoved to the ice by Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson and flicked a backhander past Jarry’s glove hand on the far side. Dubois and Werenski netted assists.

The Blue Jackets got another power-play score at the 15:09 mark of the second. Columbus forward Alexander Wennberg fired a wrister from above the right circle but had it blocked by Johnson. Foligno claimed the rebound behind Johnson and fired a spinning wrister through Jarry’s five hole. Wennberg and Jones were credited with assists.

It became a 4-2 contest at 5:20 of the third. Winning a one-on-two battle against Foligno and Jones in the Blue Jackets’ right corner, Malkin allowed Guentzel to claim a puck and deal a pass to defenseman Kris Letang above the right circle. Letang dropped the hammer on a one-timer which clinked off the cross bar and went in the net on the far side. Guentzel and Malkin collected assists.

The Blue Jackets secured victory at 19:01 of the third when Nyquist recorded a hat trick with an empty net score. Forward Jeff Anderson and David Savard had assists.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins had a 31-30 edge in shots.

• Guentzel and Nyquist each led the game with seven shots.

• Letang led the game with 24:55 of ice time on 31 shifts.

• Werenski led the Blue Jackets with 22:32 of ice time on 32 shifts.

• Faceoffs were even, 29-29 (50 percent).

• Malkin was strong on the dot going 15 for 22 (68 percent).

• Dubois was 8 for 12 (67 percent).

• Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray led the game with three blocked shots.

• Forward Sam Lafferty led the Penguins with two blocked shots.

Historically speaking

• Malkin (1,023 points) surpassed “superstar” North Stars/Canadiens/Lightning/Mighty Ducks/Capitals forward Brian Bellows (1,022) and Hockey Hall of Fame forward Rod Gilbert (1,021) for 81st place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• Nyquist recorded the third hat trick in Blue Jackets history against the Penguins. The previous two were recorded by Foligno in a 5-3 home win on April 4, 2015 and forward Scott Hartnell in a 7-1 home win on Dec. 22, 2016.

Randomly speaking

• There was an ugly sequence at 6:06 of the second period when Dubois slugged Penguins forward Brandon Tanev in the face during a scrum. Tanev went to the dressing room with blood streaming down his face and did not return until the start of the third period. When he did come back, he was wearing a full face shield to protect his damaged face.

Sullivan said Dubois was absent for as long as he was due to the NHL’s concussion protocol. Tanev was spotted outside the team’s dressing room with plenty of bandages stuffed up his nose.

Dubois was not penalized for the sequence.

• With Rust sidelined, forward Dominik Kahun replaced him on the top power-play unit.

• The Penguins were outshot, 13-3, in the first period. Ick.

• Marino had a six-game scoring streak snapped. He fell one game short of tying Randy Boyd’s franchise mark for scoring streak by a rookie defenseman which was set during the 1982-83 season.

• The Penguins have allowed an opposing power-play goal in five consecutive games, going a hideous 12 for 17 (70.5 percent) over that span.

• In contrast, they were perfect on the penalty kill during the preceding 10 games, killing 23 consecutive opposing power-play opportunities.

• Riikola was back at forward. He logged 7:25 of ice time on 11 shifts, include 2:40 as a defenseman on the second power-play unit. He recorded two shots on two attempts.

• After gaining some traction over the previous two games, the Penguins regressed on the power play going 0 for 4.

Publicly speaking

• Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist on the game:

“They were way better than us in the first period and they kept that momentum. We were on our heels. It’s tough to come back every single game. We have to give them credit but we have to be better as a team and find a way to play a little better. Even when we don’t have our best game, we have to stick with it. It’s 1-1 after the first then we give them some easy goals.”

• Johnson was asked what went wrong with the penalty kill:

“We just weren’t good tonight, overall. We just weren’t good all night. It wasn’t just the (penalty kill), the whole night we weren’t good.”

• Jarry lumped the penalty kill’s troubles to misfortune:

“Just a couple of lucky bounces I think. You see that one that Jack (Johnson) blocks. We can’t find it and we’re scrambling a little bit. Sometimes, those happen and sometimes they get (cleared) down the ice.”

• Hornqvist knows one thing which would help the penalty kill:

“We can’t take that many penalties. That’s where it starts. We have to stay out of the box. If we keep it to one or two or three a game, I think our (penalty) killers have been doing a great job. It’s when we take four, five six, seven penalties.”

• Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella was hot at his players for taking a few retaliatory penalties. He singled out Dubois for a cross-checking minor in the second.

“I don’t care how many times he gets hit. Don’t even go there. I don’t care. To win in this league, you have to take the (fertilizer). … It’s a stupid penalty. You take the (fertilizer).”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

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