Blue Jackets defeat Penguins, end 6-game losing streak

COLUMBUS -- Zach Werenski and Dmitri Voronkov each had a goal and an assist for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who ended a six-game losing streak with a 6-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

Zach Aston-Reese, Mathieu Olivier, Damon Severson and Cole Sillinger scored, and Sean Monahan had two assists for the Blue Jackets (6-8-2), who were 0-5-1 in their past six games. Elvis Merzlikins made 21 saves.

“Now we have that win,” Merzlikins said. “We have that winning mentality back on and we have to keep going.”

Anthony Beauvillier had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (6-10-3), who have lost three straight and five of six (1-3-2). Tristan Jarry, who was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Saturday, made 33 saves in his first start since Oct. 16.

“As a group we felt pretty good about our game after two periods,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “The biggest point in the third period is we didn’t defend our net front. If you look at a couple of goals they scored, they are outside shots where the rebound lays there and we’re either puck watching or we don’t get into people. We have to be harder at the net front. We have to make them work harder for their goals.”

Aston-Reese gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 2:20 of the first period, redirecting Jake Christiansen's shot from along the left boards.

“We didn't really give them a sniff,” Aston-Reese said. “Little bit on our heels in the second, but we managed it fine. That's going to happen. Decent damage control. So, a really good 60-minute effort tonight.”

Werenski scored seven seconds into a power play to extend the lead to 2-0 at 8:39. He beat Jarry glove side with a one-timer from the right point.

Beauvillier cut it to 2-1 at 11:51, batting in a puck at the right post from behind the net.

Michael Bunting tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 12:06 of the second period, but Olivier put the Blue Jackets back in front 3-2 at 16:27 when he roofed a shot from the right circle on a 3-on-1 rush.

“We’re looking for [consistency], obviously,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “We’ve got to commit to play the same way. That’s not always easy to do. There’s a lot of things that can affect that. We can’t allow anything to change the way we play.”

Voronkov made it 4-2 at 1:56 of the third period, jamming his own rebound five-hole after he deflected Kirill Marchenko's shot at the right post.

“It’s tough,” Jarry said. “Their game plan was to get a lot of pucks to the net, get a lot of bodies to the net and battle, and I think they got to a lot of pucks before we did, and it was tough to recover.”

Severson pushed the lead to 5-2 at 9:49, and Sillinger scored into an empty net at 15:32 for the 6-2 final.

It was Pittsburgh's first regulation loss to Columbus since Nov. 29, 2019 (11-0-2 in previous 13 games).

“It was important that we played how we played tonight, particularly in the third period,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “We catch some breaks to get up a couple of goals, we had some pucks get through that hadn’t gone in the net for us, which was wonderful.”

NOTES: Crosby had the primary assist on Beauvillier's goal. It was his 1,016th career assist, tying Joe Sakic for 13th in NHL history. ... Crosby remains two goals shy of 600. ... Olivier's goal was his fifth this season (16 games), tying an NHL career high. He scored five goals in 54 games in 2023-24, and five goals in 66 games in 2022-23. ... Beauvillier has scored in three straight games. ... Penguins forward Matt Nieto had one shot in 13:26 of ice time. It was his first game since sustaining a knee injury, which required multiple surgeries, on Nov. 30, 2023.