The Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins have reached Game 3 of the First Round NHL Playoffs. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Currently the odds for the game have Pittsburgh favored on the road.
Columbus found a way to get a victory on the road in Game 2 of this series, in the second overtime. Matt Calvert found the back of the net just 1:10 into that second overtime stanza to steal home ice advantage. Yet the oddsmakers have the Penguins listed as the favorites in this game to pick up a victory in the third game. Columbus has the home ice advantage with the next two games in Ohio, but Pittsburgh is very capable of picking up wins in both of these contests.
Sergei Bobrovsky played very well in the second game against Pittsburgh, stopping 39 of the 42 shots he faced from the Penguins. Bobrovsky won 32 games during the regular season and now the victory in Pittsburgh has the Blue Jackets believing. That was the team's first post season victory, so that's out of the way. Now can they back that up with two consecutive wins?
Pittsburgh will look to build off their stellar first period in Game 2. The Pens got two goals from Brian Gibbons in that opening 20 minutes — one at even strength and one on the shorthand. Matt Niskanen added a power play mark for the Penguins as well. Sidney Crosby assisted on two of those tallies, but both he and Evgeni Malkin haven't found a way to score in this series. If the Penguins can get their big guns going they're going to be a very tough out.
Marc Andre-Fleury has played pretty well in the opening two games, despite suffering the second game loss. Fleury has had both success and problems in his NHL Playoff career. When he plays at a high level the Penguins are one of the Stanley Cup contenders. However, if Fleury is struggling in between the pipes it doesn't matter how talented they are on the rest of the ice.
Tonight we like Columbua to get their first home playoff win. They are riding high with confidence from their victory in Game 2 and we expect them to be more loose on the ice and get another solid game from Bobrovsky in net.
Free Pick: Columbus 3, Pittsburgh 2
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