Blue Jackets breakdown: Dominant first period foiled by Penguins' comeback push

The Blue Jackets' quest for a complete game is ongoing.

Despite taking a 2-0 lead with a dominant first period Saturday night at Nationwide Arena, the Jackets fell apart over the next two periods in a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins — who improved to 4-0-1 and lead the Metropolitan Division with nine points.

Sidney Crosby, Danton Heinen and Brock McGinn scored goals in the third for the Penguins, who surged back to win on five straight goals after trailing 3-1 early in the second. Heinen led the way with two goals and Pittsburgh's other two tallies were sent into the Blue Jackets' net by Josh Archibald and Jan Rutta.

“We knew they were going to push, right?" Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner said. "I thought we could’ve twisted our dial a little more and not let them back in the game like that.”

Jenner and Jack Roslovic scored the first two for the Blue Jackets and rookie Kent Johnson scored the third one for a 3-1 lead in the second on his first career NHL goal. Tristan Jarry made 29 saves to earn the win for Pittsburgh. Elvis Merzlikins took the loss while allowing six goals on 39 shots.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins: key moments

— Columbus built a 2-0 lead in a dominant first period on goals by Jenner at 7:13 and Roslovic on a shorthanded breakaway with just 1:16 left. Jenner's first goal of the season was scored after an attempted exit pass by the Penguins hit Johnny Gaudreau in the skate and sent the puck straight to the Blue Jackets' captain alone in front of the net.

Roslovic's goal was created by Penguins star defenseman Kris Letang, who flipped the puck into the neutral zone with a blind reverse pass during a power play. Roslovic got to it way ahead of anybody else and scored off the breakaway, after first checking behind him to see if he was really that wide open. It was his first goal of the season, putting the Jackets up 2-0 just before the first break.

— Johnson's first NHL goal was a big one, countering Archibald's goal in the second just 14 seconds after the Penguins forward cut the Blue Jackets' lead to 2-1. Getting the puck from Roslovic in the low slot, Johnson calmly tucked the puck between Jarry's pads for a 3-1 lead at 3:57 of the second.

— Pittsburgh tied it 3-3 on goals by Rutta at 10:04 of the second and Heinen 4:15 later, but it was the Penguins' captain, Crosby, who put his team ahead 4-3 at 5:38 of the third on a one-timer that made the Blue Jackets' fourth line and third defense pairing pay for not getting the puck out of the Columbus zone.

The play also came off a faceoff that followed an icing off Mathieu Olivier's attempted pass to Johnson that didn't connect. Goals by Heinen and McGinn followed Crosby's tally, turning the game into a rout.

“It’s awful," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "We give up two faceoff goals in the third period. It’s just a killer. It should never happen. And you know what? We let some things distract us tonight in some areas, later in the game I thought, and it hurt us.”

Quotable: Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins

"We talked about starts. We solved that, right? Did a great job. Even the second period, we’re fine when we get it to 3-1. We got some … there’s some things … it’s unfortunate, but we’re still 3-3 going to the third, right? You’ve got to gather yourself. That’s part of pro hockey. We took the first, they took the second. Gather yourself for the third.”

— Larsen on the Blue Jackets' five-goal collapse after taking a 3-1 lead early in the second.

“It’s tough to get wins in this league and you’re going to have to be up for a full 60 (minutes). Our start was good. You could see that. It’s just we didn’t have the same energy in the second and in the third as well. A team like that? They’re going to make you pay.”

— Jenner on how the Penguins overcame a pair of two-goal leads for the Blue Jackets.

“I’m not feeling that I’m controlling the game. I wish I could have that feeling as soon as possible. I haven’t had a chance to really feel the game, the flow, so I’m looking forward to having that feeling as soon as possible.”

— Merzlikins on a sluggish start to the season.

“Individually, there’s little stuff for every guy. I know definitely I had some plays I’d like back, but that’s hockey. We’ve just got to learn from it.”

— Johnson on lessons from the Jackets' multiple losses this season decided by mistakes in the third period.

“Maybe he’s diversifying his portfolio a little bit. It shows that he’s not just a one-trick pony (but) I still want him shooting the puck as much as possible, because that shot’s lethal.”

— Larsen on forward Yegor Chinakhov getting his first four points of the season off assists instead of goals.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins notes

— Justin Danforth sustained an upper-body injury late in the first period and didn’t return. He wasn’t pronounced out of the game until the second intermission break. His last shift ended with 3:15 left in the first, shortly before Roslovic’s goal gave the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead.

"We know what Danny’s been doing for us," Larsen said. "He’s been contributing in a lot of ways, not just on the scoreboard, but with his energy, his tenacity. He’s been a really good guy to have on any line because he brings energy, speed, so yeah, that hurt us.”

— Gaudreau’s assist on Jenner’s goal extended his point streak to five straight games, giving him a team-high scoring line of 4-3-7 in the first six games.

— Patrik Laine (elbow sprain) continues to get work while in full gear as his injury heals. Saturday, he joined the Blue Jackets as a part-time participant in the team's morning skate at Nationwide Arena after going through multiple solo practices earlier in the week.

“It just shows he’s progressing," Larsen said. "Every day’s a new day. We wait to see how he’s feeling and then we keep progressing. He’s trending the right way.”

— Gaudreau also skated in his 300th consecutive game, which ranks as third-longest among active players. Vegas Golden Knights forward Phil Kessel is first at 987 and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns (683) is second.

— The Blue Jackets were just 2-7-1 in their past 10 games against Pittsburgh. They've fared better at home in the previous 10 games played at Nationwide Arena, going 4-5-1 against the Penguins in those games, but the overall mark in the past five years is ugly. This victory pushes Pittsburgh's record to 16-3-1 against Columbus dating back to Feb. 3, 2017.

"They’ve all been around with each other for a long time," Roslovic said. "They know how to come back. They know how to take leads. But I just think that little fade at the end cost us.”

— Joonas Korpisalo is continuing to make progress in his recovery from hip surgery last spring, which means the Blue Jackets' backup goaltender is nearing his return to action. Korpisalo is starting to increase his workload in practices and hopes to play his first game before the team's trip to Finland to play the Colorado Avalanche Nov. 4-5 in Tampere.

“I feel some progress," Korpisalo said. "I hope I can play soon. We’ll see.”

Columbus Blue Jackets vs Pittsburgh Penguins: analysis

Columbus hasn’t put together a more complete period of hockey in quite some time than its domination of the first period. Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets, the Penguins rebounded from it in the second and dominated the third to turn a tied game into a blowout.

Here’s a look at a statistical breakdown via Natural Stat Trick:

Shots: Penguins 39, Blue Jackets 32 (54.9%)

Shot attempts: Penguins 67, Blue Jackets 57 (54%)

Scoring chances: Penguins 37, Blue Jackets 25 (59.7%)

High-danger chances: Penguins 13, Blue Jackets 9 (59.1%)

Expected goals: Penguins 3.8, Blue Jackets 2.1

Power plays: Penguins 0/3, Blue Jackets 0/1

Faceoffs: Penguins 40/75 (53%), Blue Jackets 35/75 (47%)

Hits: Blue Jackets 31, Penguins 12

Blocked shots: Penguins 17, Blue Jackets 15

Up next for the Columbus Blue Jackets

Completing their second of 16 back-to-backs, the Blue Jackets will face the New York Rangers on Sunday (5 p.m.) at Madison Square Garden.

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets waste great start against Pittsburgh Penguins