Penguins strike first on rocket from Bryan Rust

Penguins Bryan Rust opens the scoring in Game 1 of their first-round matchup against the Blue Jackets.

Bryan Rust just made life a little bit more difficult for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

After all, somebody had to put the puck in the net, but we didn’t think that it would be Rust that would open the gates of scoring in Game 1 of what should be an exciting first-round series against the rival Blue Jackets.

But that’s exactly what happened just two minutes into the second period at Console Energy Arena as the Penguins are now pouring it on the Blue Jackets.

After an uneventful first period, where neither team gained ground, the Penguins decided that enough was frankly enough. Columbus is the upstarts here, hoping for a first-round upset that will be heard around the world as Pittsburg is one of the favorites to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Final.

Why should Pittsburgh toy around with the guys from Central Ohio? These guys are (kind of) newbies to this stage, and to let the Blue Jackets hang around on the road will not be in their favor.

So, Rust decided to do something about it.

After finding some daylight against the Jackets defense, Rust slapped a shot straight in front of Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who hardly let anything slip past him. But that puck did, and it made it 1-0 in favor of the home standing Penguins.

All that did was open up the scoring floodgates, which was something that the Blue Jackets didn’t need to do if they have any prayer of dumping the hated Penguins in the first round.

Granted, there still is time if Columbus decides to pack it in and wait for revenge in Game 2, but, just as a friendly reminder to the Blue Jackets — don’t let the Penguins score the first goal because you will wind up regretting it.