COLUMBUS, Ohio: Markus Nutivaara, William Karlsson and Boone Jenner each had a goal and an assist as the Columbus Blue Jackets held on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Tuesday, avoiding a sweep in the best-of-seven playoff series.
Jack Johnson and Josh Anderson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who were able to outlast the Penguins when they pushed back hard in the second and third periods and then got a short-handed goal from Jake Guenztel with 27 seconds left in the game.
Sergei Bobrovsky had 27 saves to help the Blue Jackets get their first playoff win in three years and their first-ever in regulation.
The Penguins now lead 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, which returns to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Thursday night.
Patric Hornqvist, Ron Hainsey and Tom Kuhnhackl also scored for Pittsburgh, and Marc-Andre Fleury — pressed into service because of an injury to Matt Murray at the start of the series — had 29 saves.
Columbus got offense from its lower lines, building leads of 3-1, 4-2 and 4-3 before Jenner poked in a goal amid heavy traffic 5:37 into the third period for a 5-3 lead. Pittsburgh got the late goal but ran out of time.
Johnson scored first for the Blue Jackets at 11:46 of the opening period when he launched a wrister from the right point into traffic that bounced off Sidney Crosby’s skate and into the net.
There was less luck involved when Anderson made it 2-0 with a little over minute left in the period. He grabbed a chip pass from Karlsson, circled in from the right and beat Fleury between the pads.
Columbus went up 3-0 at 4:49 of the second when Nutivaara scored off a rebound.
Just like in Game 3 when they rallied from a 3-1 deficit, the Penguins began roaring back.
Hornqvist struck for Pittsburgh during a power play 6:43 in the second. His rebound shot from the doorstep rolled up the pad of Bobrovsky with the goalie dropped in front of the net. Ten minutes later, Phil Kessel passed the puck out to Hainsey to the far right and he beat a shielded Bobrovsky from a severe angle. The Blue Jackets were lucky to get out of the last few minutes of the period without another score from the swarming Penguins.
The Blue Jackets got a goal from Karlsson 27 seconds into the third that seemed to pump them up again. But Kuhnhackl found the back of the net on a rebound less than two minutes later to make it 4-3 before Jenner put Columbus back up by two.
Rangers 2 Canadiens 1: In New York, Rick Nash and Jesper Fast scored, Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves and the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 to level their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
New York’s win also ended a six-game losing streak at home in the playoffs going back to the 2015 Eastern Conference Final.
Torrey Mitchell scored for Montreal and Carey Price made 30 saves.
Game 5 is Thursday night in Montreal before the series returns to Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
The Rangers, who gave up the tying goal with 18 seconds left in the third period of Game 2 before losing in overtime, stopped Montreal in the final minutes in this one.
Sharks 7 Oilers 0: In San Jose, California, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture each scored two goals and the San Jose Sharks rebounded from back-to-back shutouts in emphatic fashion and tied their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Pavelski scored on a pair of deflections, including one just 15 seconds into the game for the fastest playoff goal in team history, the previously dormant power play scored four times and San Jose held Connor McDavid off the score sheet for the second straight game. Now they will try to carry that over into Game 5 in Edmonton on Thursday night.
Patrick Marleau, Marcus Sorensen and David Schlemko also scored for San Jose, Brent Burns had three assists and Martin Jones made 23 saves for his fourth playoff shutout. It all added up to the most lopsided playoff win in Sharks history and biggest shutout win in the NHL in 10 years.
Blue Jackets edge Penguins 5-4 to avoid sweep
Blue Jackets edge Penguins 5-4 to avoid sweep
