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Updated 7 hours ago
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When the Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets get together, the appeal is the clash of styles.
Part of what made Friday night's installment in the Interstate-70 rivalry so compelling was that each team dabbled in the other's wheelhouse.
Brandon Dubinsky, the chief proponent of his team's physical style, scored an artistic overtime goal that looked like it might have come off Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin's highlight reel, giving the Blue Jackets a 2-1 victory.
The Penguins, meanwhile, thought their performance gave a glimpse into their grit.
The Penguins might not have thrived playing their second overtime game in as many nights, with the minutes piling up for top-pair defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang because of injuries to Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz, but they didn't exactly wilt either.
“Sometimes teams think we're not a physical team. We're a fast team but not physical,” Malkin said. “But no. We're a physical team, too. We need to answer, too.”
On the overtime goal, Dubinsky skated up the left wing on a two-on-one, pulled up in front of defenseman Trevor Daley, toe-dragged to the middle of the ice and wired a shot under the crossbar at the 1-minute, 4-second mark.
The second-place Penguins ran their regulation unbeaten streak to nine games (6-0-3), but their lead over the third-place Blue Jackets in the Metropolitan Division race shrunk to one point.
Columbus has won two of the first three meetings in the season series. The final matchup is April 4 at PPG Paints Arena.
“We know they're going to be there. They're a playoff team,” Dumoulin said. “But regardless of who we play, we want to make sure we're building our game into a playoff identity. That obviously starts now.”
The first 10 minutes of the second period gave a tantalizing glimpse into what a playoff series between the teams might look like.
Fifty seconds in, Crosby cranked up a slap shot from the left wing that clanked off the crossbar.
The Blue Jackets came back down the ice and scored. William Karlsson threw a backhand pass that made its way through a maze of skates and sticks to Ryan Murray in the slot. He slipped a backhand shot inside the post before Matt Murray knew where the puck was.
About four minutes later, Columbus leading scorer Cam Atkinson danced into the high slot and fired a shot off the crossbar.
A minute later, the Penguins tied the score 1-1. Malkin won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Ian Cole at the left point, and his shot through traffic sailed inside the far post. It was the 500th assist of Malkin's career.
“They're a team that's trying to establish a forecheck and a puck pursuit game,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “They want to use their physical play to try to help them control territory. That's their game. I thought for the most part we handled the pressure pretty well.”
The Blue Jackets had two apparent goals waved off by quick whistles, one by Oliver Bjorkstrand off a net-front scramble and another when Boone Jenner stabbed at Murray until a puck tumbled over the goal line.
Those plays, perhaps more than Dubinsky's pretty overtime winner, give the Penguins an idea of what they'd face in a potential playoff series.
“We know they play physical. They're a tough team. We know maybe we meet them in the playoffs too,” Malkin said. “We have to be ready.”
Carl Hagelin made his return to the lineup after missing five games with a concussion, tying Crosby for the team lead in shots with five.
“I think his speed has such an influence on the game,” Sullivan said. “It helps his line. He chases pucks down. He puts defensemen under pressure. I thought he had a good game.”
Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.
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