Jack Skille #5 of the Columbus Blue Jackets moves the puck in front of the defense of Rob Scuderi #4 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Five of the First Round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Consol Energy Center on April 26, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Penguins played well on both sides of their blue line in a 3-1 win in Game 5 on Saturday, well enough to beat the Blue Jackets and push Pittsburgh to the brink of its fifth first-round playoff series victory in the past seven seasons.
It was without question the Penguins’ best performance of the series, absent the flightiness of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and the lapses of defenseman Kris Letang.
The Penguins are best known for their star-studded point producers, but they entered the series with the NHL’s No. 10 scoring defense (2.49 goals against per game).
For the first time, they limited the Blue Jackets to fewer than three goals.
“I think for the duration of the game, that was our most complete game as a defensive group,” Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen said in Pittsburgh yesterday.
“But a lot of that is team game, as well. We did our job and it allowed our forwards to play their game better. They had more opportunities to forecheck because of how we played. It goes both ways. Our forecheck was really good and they didn’t have a ton of energy to come the other way.”
It was rarely evident during the first four games of the series, but it turns out the Penguins have some grit, too.
They hounded the puck, assaulted the Jackets’ net, took 51 shots and came very close to out-hitting the Jackets for the first time in the series.
“That’s a game we have to play,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “It’s not always going to result in 50 shots, but that’s more our style of play.”
The Penguins limited the Jackets to 24 shots after allowing 46 in a 4-3 loss in Game 4 that ended when Nick Foligno beat Fleury from 60 feet or so 2:49 into overtime.
They did so with a solid performance from Fleury, who was rarely tested, and without shutdown defenseman Brooks Orpik.
Orpik left Friday’s practice early because of an undisclosed injury and did not play in Game 5.
Letang, paired with Paul Martin on what amounted to the Penguins’ shutdown pair in Game 5, was near his best after struggling through the first four games.
Letang entered the series with 13 goals and 47 points in 80 career playoff games.
But he had no points and a minus-3 rating through the first four games of the series.
He finished Game 5 with his first goal (an empty-netter in the final moments), four shots and a team-high 24 minutes, 25 seconds of ice time.
“That was his best (game), without question,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “And it did root from the fact that he was playing great defense in that shutdown pair with Paul.”
smitchell@dispatch.com
@smitchcd
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