Penguins Fall To Blue Jackets, 6-2, For Third Consecutive Loss

For the second time in five days, there was not much to like about the Penguins’ performance on game day.

And, this time, it came against a team who has been chasing them from the basement of the Metropolitan Division.

The Pittsburgh Penguins fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-2, to secure their third consecutive loss, and they sit just one point ahead of Columbus for last in the Metro. Anthony Beauvillier and Michael Bunting scored the only goals for the Penguins during a second-period comeback that saw them rally from a two-goal deficit for the second time in as many games.

However, Columbus followed that up with four unanswered goals to seal the deal. Goaltender Tristan Jarry – getting his first start since Oct. 16, surrendered two goals on Columbus’ first three shots of the game and made 38 saves on 43 shots. His goals-against average dropped to 5.36 on the season, and his save percentage dipped to .847.

When asked about he would assess his performance, Jarry thought he performed better as the game went on.

“Not bad,” Jarry said. “It’s tough. They scored two early, and they get an off-side tip, and then, they get a goal through the screen. Obviously, it’s tough coming back from 2-0 at that point, but I thought as the game went on, they got a lot of pucks to the net, and I did a better job finding pucks, and they just kept pressing.”

I don’t have much to say tonight that I haven’t already said, so I’ll keep it brief. But, nonetheless, here are some thoughts and observations from tonight’s game.

– The top line was very good again tonight, as was Anthony Beauvillier.

I mentioned this in my last piece, but he just looks very comfortable with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell. He profiles as the exact kind of player that Crosby thrives with, and his forechecking and net-front abilities make him a great asset for Rakell as well.

I’ll write a piece on him over the next couple of days. But he is now on pace to score 26 goals this season, which would best his career-high of…