By ,
Published May 02, 2016
Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Brandon Dubinsky's short-handed goal with 2:17 left in regulation was the deciding marker as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Thursday.
Scott Hartnell extended his point streak to eight games with a goal and Curtis McElhinney made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets, who were coming off a 5-2 win over the Flyers on Tuesday.
"I thought our guys played hard," Columbus head coach Todd Richards said. "We did a good job of staying composed."
Evgeni Malkin scored and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28-of-30 shots in Pittsburgh's third straight loss.
After Kevin Connauton went off for tripping with under four minutes to play in the third period, Matt Calvert drove in on net and was muscled off the puck by Blake Comeau, who crashed into Fleury. Dubinsky took the loose puck in front and wristed it past the off-balanced netminder to put Columbus in front.
"It's pretty frustrating," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "It's a tough way to lose the game."
The Penguins pulled Fleury with over a minute to play and threatened with the extra attacker, but failed to force overtime.
Hartnell opened the scoring with 2:17 to play in the first. Alexander Wennberg sent a pass from along the left-wing boards to Hartnell, who deked in the slot and slid the puck past Fleury.
Just over a minute into the middle stanza, McElhinney robbed Crosby's wrister from the side of the net with a slick glove save to keep Columbus in front.
Malkin, however, tied the game at 8:58 of the second. Paul Martin skated down to below the goal line and sent a pass toward the slot, where Malkin wristed the puck home.
The game took a nasty turn following the equalizer as Jared Boll and Steve Downie went off with concurrent roughing minors and Crosby dropped the gloves in a rare fight with Dubinsky.
"Any time you get a chance to make a trade-off with one of the best in the world like that I'll take it," Dubinsky said of the fight. "He definitely surprised me a little bit."
Columbus failed to capitalize on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play midway through the third after Beau Bennett went off for slashing and Maxim Lapierre high- sticking. Cam Atkinson had the best chance as he had a wide-open net to work with, but instead, shot the puck through the crease and off the skate of Fleury.
Game Notes
The Blue Jackets defeated the Penguins for the first time in regulation during the regular season since Feb. 8, 2011 ... Columbus improved to 20-7-1 when scoring first this season ... Crosby has failed to register a point in five straight home games.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/dubinskys-late-strike-powers-blue-jackets-past-pens