Penguins extend lead on Blue Jackets with shutout

PITTSBURGH-- Matt Murray made 25 saves and Phil Kessel ended a 16-game goal drought for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Kessel scored his first goal since Jan. 30 in the first period for the Penguins (36-22-9), who are 8-2-2 in their past 12 games. They are third in the Metropolitan Division, two points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes, four points ahead of the Blue Jackets, and four behind the first-place New York Islanders and Washington Capitals.
Pittsburgh has outscored Columbus 34-17 in eight straight wins, including 12-4 in three wins this season.
WATCH: [All Blue Jackets vs. Penguins highlights]
"Every game we play them is a hard-fought battle," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "The margin for error is slim. Most of the games are close games. They're a real good team. Fortunately, we're finding ways to win."

Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves for the Blue Jackets (37-27-3), who have lost four of their past six games. They are two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We had some good things," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "Still not totally in flow offensively. I think we need something good to happen. They blocked 24 shots. We have a lot of shot attempts and a lot of good things. We still don't score a goal."
Sidney Crosby temporarily left after taking a high stick from Boone Jenner at 2:52 of the third period but extended his goal streak to six games into an empty net with 31 seconds remaining, making it 3-0.

Kessel gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 2:22 of the first period. Evgeni Malkin got the puck near the right post and passed behind the net to Kessel, who shot off a scrambling Korpisalo to end the longest goal drought of his 13 NHL seasons. The goal was upheld after the Blue Jackets challenged for goaltender interference.
"It felt pretty good, right?" Kessel said of his 22nd goal this season. "It wasn't the greatest goal, but I'll take it at this point. ... I think it's just, I got lucky tonight. I thought it was going to come a little earlier than it did. It took me a while. Hopefully now I can get a hot streak going."
Nick Bjugstad made it 2-0 with 1:13 remaining in the second period. He went backhand to forehand in the slot to shoot around Matt Duchene and through Korpisalo's five-hole.

The shutout was Murray's fourth of the season and 10th in the NHL. He has allowed three goals in three straight wins after losing three of his previous five starts.

They said it

"Scoring and not scoring are both contagious. All of us are obviously a little snake bit right now. I have no explanation for it. We just have to work through it. Eventually we're going to get a cheap one, and then we're going to feel good. We get the monkey off our back and we'll go. We have to make sure our level stays there. I felt like our level was there tonight. I think we all did." -- Blue Jackets forward Matt Duchene
"I liked our game. I thought we did a lot of good things. I thought we competed. We're not opportunistic right now. That's really the difference in the game. I thought we did a lot of good things, and had a lot of good looks. We're just not scoring. We have to find a way because you're not going to win a game unless you score a goal." -- Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno
"I think we managed the puck well, which I think is key. Got the puck deep when we needed to and didn't turn the pucks over. That doesn't give them anything off the rush, which is obviously huge, especially this time of year. That was the biggest thing." -- Penguins goalie Matt Murray

Need to know

The Blue Jackets have not scored in 124:08. Cam Atkinson scored their last goal, giving them a 1-0 lead 52 seconds into the first period of a 2-1 shootout win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. ... Blue Jackets goalie Keith Kinkaid backed up Korpisalo, and Sergei Bobrovsky was scratched. Tortorella said he wanted to rest Bobrovsky, who is 11-8-5 with a 2.93 goals-against average and .906 save percentage against Pittsburgh. ... Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (upper body) missed a fifth straight game. He did not participate in morning skate because of an illness after practicing in a no-contact jersey Wednesday. ... Murray started a sixth straight game for the Penguins for the first time this season. He last started six straight when he made seven consecutive starts from March 23-April 5, 2018.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Penguins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-O, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)
Penguins: At the Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-O, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)