COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the end, the Team That Could simply ran out of time.
“This one hurts, it hurts to see our season end this way,” said center Brandon Dubinsky, who scored a goal and notched five assists during the series and was credited for helping keep Penguins star Sidney Crosby from making any significant offensive contribution.
Evgeni Malkin scored a hat trick to help the Pittsburgh Penguins build a four-goal lead before the Blue Jackets mounted a furious comeback in the 3rd period which came up short. Columbus fell to the Penguins 4-3 at Nationwide Arena on Monday night, putting an end to the most successful season in franchise history.
The Penguins clinched their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series 4-2. They will face either the Rangers or Flyers in the next round.
Malkin’s third goal of the night put the Pens ahead 4-0 with 4:38 remaining in the second period, but Fedor Tyutin, Artem Anisimov and Nick Foligno scored in a 4:52 span to turn up the pressure. on the Penguins.
Marc-Andre Fleury blanked the Jackets over the final 4:47 to help Pittsburgh close out the series.
Brandon Sutter also scored and Matt Niskanen had two assists as the Penguins became the first team in the series to score first and win — but barely. Fleury made 24 saves.
Columbus had battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to tie the series twice – winning both games in overtime – to force the sixth game.