Pettersson notches 3 points in 5-3 Penguins victory

PITTSBURGH --The Pittsburgh Penguins will face the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.

Pittsburgh (46-25-11) finished third in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of the Washington Capitals, who lost 3-2 at the second-place Rangers on Friday. Game 1 of the best-of-7 series will be at New York on Tuesday.
"We're going to play the game that gives us the best chance to win," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "That's what we've tried to do all year long. We'll certainly go to work here over the next couple of days and see if there's anything we can do to be better against the Rangers."

CBJ@PIT: Pettersson buries Malkin's feed

Marcus Pettersson had a goal and two assists, and Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who had lost two in a row. Casey DeSmith made 33 saves and started five of the final six games in place of Tristan Jarry, who could be out with a lower-body injury to start the playoffs.
J-F Berube allowed three goals on eight shots before being pulled in the first period for the Blue Jackets (37-38-7), who lost six of their final eight games and did not qualify for the playoffs. Elvis Merzlikins made 40 saves in relief after making 25 in a 5-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
"In an overview of the growth of our group, the younger players, some guys had some great years," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "Some guys had some downs, some ups and downs. That's an NHL season. That's what happens in 82 [games]."
Malkin gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 3:51 of the first period, tapping in a rebound of his own wrist shot. It was his 20th goal in 41 games this season after returning Jan. 11 from offseason knee surgery.
Evan Rodrigues made it 2-0 at 5:31 on a wrist shot after Berube chipped the puck to him in the right face-off circle.
"It's the playoffs now," Rodrigues said. "You just have to play them hard and play playoff hockey."
Pettersson extended the lead to 3-0 at 6:26. Malkin carried the puck behind the net and passed to Pettersson for a one-timer before Berube was pulled.
The three goals came before Cole Sillinger had Columbus' first shot on goal at 8:20.
"It was our last chance to earn that confidence and just play the right way," Pettersson said. "I thought we did that in the start and it carried over."
Justin Danforth cut it to 3-1 at 10:25 of the second period, diving to poke in a loose puck.
"That's a great hockey team that's preparing to make a Cup run," Danforth said. "They needed these points tonight, so we knew they were going to be hungry. You could see we were a bit sluggish early on. They made us pay for it. Good teams do. We battled back. That goes to show our character."

CBJ@PIT: Malkin nets own rebound for his 20th of year

Kris Letang made it 4-1 at 16:30 on a one-timer before Brian Boyle pushed the lead to 5-1 when a shot by Pettersson went in off him at 18:54.
Oliver Bjorkstrand pulled the Blue Jackets within 5-2 on the power play at 6:58 of the third period.
Gustav Nyquist scored on another power play for the 5-3 final at 12:06, deflecting a shot from Jakub Voracek.
"Overall, over the course of the season, we had some good lessons," Nyquist said. "Tonight was another one. It's better to play these games, I think, than against teams that are out of the playoffs. This is where we want to get to. This is where we're aiming."
NOTES: The Penguins and Rangers will meet in the playoffs for the eighth time and first since facing off in three straight postseasons from 2014-16. Pittsburgh was 1-3-0 against New York in the regular season, being outscored 11-4. … Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin left with an undisclosed injury at 11:13 of the third. There was no update. … Pittsburgh forward Jason Zucker did not play with a lower-body injury sustained in a 5-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. His status for the start of the playoffs is uncertain. … Columbus scored 258 goals this season, passing its previous high of 256 in 2018-19. … Letang scored an NHL career-high 68 points (10 goals, 58 assists) in 77 games this season. His previous high came in 2015-16, when he had 67 points (16 goals, 51 assists) in 71 games. … Nyquist had a goal and an assist to reach 401 points (164 goals, 237 assists) in 652 NHL games.