COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Blue Jackets erased a 3-0 deficit and Nick Foligno’s wrist shot just inside the blue line in overtime gave the Blue Jackets a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena.
It was the Blue Jackets’ first home playoff victory in the franchise’s 13 seasons, sending the series back to Pittsburgh for Game 5 on Saturday night (7:00p.m./FOX Sports Ohio) tied 2-2 and guaranteeing another playoff game Monday at Nationwide Arena.
Foligno scored when his wrist shot from just inside the blue line snuck under Marc-Andre Fleury’s glove 2:49 into the extra period.
“He actually called it after the third period. He said he was going to go out and score it for us. I was impressed he did it that quickly,” defenseman Jack Johnson said.
The Jackets seemed doomed after Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the first period but clawed their way back with goals from Boone Jenner and Ryan Johansen and Brandon Dubinsky’s tally with 22.5 seconds left in regulation that forced overtime.
This is the first time in Stanley Cup playoff history that the first four games of a series have been won by teams that had to rally from deficits of at least two goals.
Craig Adams, Chris Kunitz, James Neal scored in a span of 5:01 of the first period to stake the Penguins to their 3-0 lead.