Injury-Plagued Pens Fall To Blue Jackets, 4-1
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) -- The Penguins lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 on Tuesday night.
In the first period, Rick Nash scored on a snap shot set up by Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek at 6:07 to make it 1-0.
The Blue Jackets built a 3-0 lead in the second with a wrister from Samuel Pahlsson at 8:08 and a backhander from Voracek with under three minutes left in the period.
The Penguins got on the board and avoided being shutout at 7:29 in the third when Tyler Kennedy scored on the power play. Mike Rupp and Paul Martin had assists on the goal.
Antoine Vermette got the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 4-1. Fleury had 21 saves.
The Blue Jackets avenged a 7-2 loss to the Penguins from December.
"I was frustrated after that. That was embarrassing, especially for myself, people watching it back home, and to see our team represented that way," Blue Jackets center R.J. Umberger said. "Tonight, it was in the back of our minds but, more than anything, the two points were first in our mind."
Meantime, the list of injured Penguins continues to grow.
Along with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Mark Letestu all being out, Chris Kunitz was also scratched for the game with a lower body injury. He's listed as day-to-day.
The Penguins are faced with the grim possibility of playing without their top two stars the rest of the season.
"I'm not going to play any different just because those two are out and I don't think anybody else should either," Kennedy said.
