Penguins vs. Blue Jackets: Game 2 Prediction

After a physical, back and forth Game 1, the Blue Jackets will look to steal one on the road from the Penguins in Game 2.

The Penguins performed as expected in Game 1, taking home the series opener with a 3-1 home victory over the Blue Jackets. However, the team did it with an unexpected goalie in net, as Marc-Andre Fleury got the starting nod with Matt Murray out with an injury.

The two teams will battle again in Pittsburgh on Friday night, with the Penguins looking to head to Columbus with their two home games safely in hand.

In Game 1, the Penguins held a 26-16 shot advantage over the final two periods, and exploded for three goals in the second period with their powerful offense gaining steam. Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino seemed to return quickly to playoff form with their second period goals. The trio will hope to continue their pace in Game 2 to spark the Penguins while Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin look to debut their playoff scoring.

For the Blue Jackets, they will need to get back to the physical style of play they established in the first period of Game 1, where they outshot the Penguins 16-3 in the first period and had Fleury dancing everywhere to keep Pittsburgh in the game. Columbus finally busted open their scoring in the third, but it was too little, too late, and will need to quicken the pace early to get past Fleury.

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Pick: Penguins 3, Blue Jackets 2

Pittsburgh’s offense looks to have gotten back to their style from the last postseason quickly, and it looks like it’ll be tough to stop the Penguins at home. The Blue Jackets made some noise in the first period in Game 1, and could have the key to get past Fleury if they can execute better early on in Game 2.

However, I think the Penguins will be too much for Sergei Bobrovsky to handle in net for Columbus, and Pittsburgh will overpower Columbus to a 3-2 win to go up 2-0 in the series.