Penguins rally past Blue Jackets in OT

COLUMBUS -- Kris Letang scored 59 seconds into overtime, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit for a 4-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Friday.

Evgeni Malkin outbattled Ivan Provorov and Luca Pinelli for the puck along the left boards in the offensive zone to set up the play. Letang collected the loose puck and started a give-and-go with Tommy Novak before scoring the game-winner with a snap shot from in front.

“It was just a great battle by 'Geno' on the wall,” Letang said. “He had to fight off a couple of guys and just worked to get it going with (Novak).

“The thought is just to win, especially after not having a great game. You want a response in the third and if you have to fight it until in the overtime, you do it.”

Letang also had an assist, Sidney Crosby scored twice, and Bryan Rust had a goal for the Penguins (12-6-5), who have won two straight and extended their point streak to three games (2-0-1). Tristan Jarry made 26 saves and Novak had two assists.

“Just being able to know that we could do it and play that way and just keep rolling, I think that'll go a long way for us,” Jarry said.

Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist, and Sean Monahan and Brendan Gaunce each scored for the Blue Jackets (11-9-5), who have lost four in a row (0-1-3). Jet Greaves made 20 saves.

Over their past 11 games, the Blue Jackets have gone past regulation eight times and have blown leads in six of them. They've gone 3-0-5 in those games, including 1-0-3 while giving up two-goal leads late in four of those games.

“I’m not sure you guys (media) are sick of asking about it,” Werenski said. “I'm sure fans are sick of seeing it. So, at the end of the day, it's on us to just find a way to get a win and win in regulation and close the game out.

“We're getting points, and we still haven't really played good enough in the third period, and we're leading in almost every game. So, I really like what we have going on here. But, yeah, I mean, we're sick of talking about it.”

Rust cut the Blue Jackets' lead to 3-2 13 seconds into the third period with a snap shot from the top of the right circle.

Crosby tied it 3-3 with his second goal at 8:28 when he took a pass off the right wall from Novak and broke in alone before sneaking a shot under Greaves' right arm.

“Sid's goal there was massive, obviously,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “But I also thought we had more time there where we're starting to put multiple shifts together.”

Crosby made it 1-0 at 6:10 of the first period, redirecting a Letang pass at the left post.

Monahan scored his first goal in 10 games to tie it 1-1 at 13:40. Jarry made a save on a Brendan Smith shot and the rebound went off the skate of Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves to Monahan, who lifted it past a sprawling Jarry.

Gaunce put the Blue Jackets ahead 2-1 at 3:51 of the second period with a short-handed goal. Miles Wood got Crosby to go to the ice and skated around him, then fed a backhander to Gaunce during a 2-on-1.

Werenski increased the lead to 3-1 at 19:56, one-timing a shot from the top of the left face-off circle after Charlie Coyle dug the puck out of the left corner.

“Well obviously we didn't finish well in the second and I think the entire second was not good at all,” Letang said. “So, we came in the room and we assessed it and we knew we had to respond the right way and I think that's what we did.”

The Blue Jackets were unable to respond with a go-ahead goal after Crosby tied it in the third.

“Certainly, we felt a bit of a, not necessarily a sag, it's just when things haven't gone well, obviously you start thinking,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “We obviously made some mistakes on those two goals, and we didn't get rewarded for some of the opportunities that we had.”

NOTES: Crosby scored his 639th and 640th career goals, tying Dave Andreychuk for 15th place on the NHL’s all-time list. Letang's goal was the 12th overtime goal of his career and matched Erik Karlsson and Seth Jones for the third-most by a defenseman in NHL history. The list is topped by Brent Burns (16) and Scott Niedermayer (13). … Smith’s assist on the Monahan goal was his first point for the Blue Jackets in his second game.