Blue Jackets battle way to shootout win against Penguins

Dmitri Voronkov scored twice, and the Columbus Blue Jackets recovered for a 5-4 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Kirill Marchenko had the deciding goal in the third round of the shootout before Elvis Merzlikins stopped Evgeni Malkin to seal the victory.

“I think it was just some perseverance, obviously by the group, and our commitment was fantastic,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “Our composure was good when it could have went sideways again, but they held their composure and we were able to get the job done.”

Bryan Rust tied it 4-4 at 16:54 of the third period with a one-timer off a pass from Malkin to eventually force overtime after Kris Letang’s power-play goal cut Columbus’ lead to 4-3 two minutes earlier.

Charlie Coyle and Yegor Chinakhov also scored for the Blue Jackets (4-4-0), who were coming off a 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday, but have won three of four. Merzlikins made 26 saves.

“It's huge, especially last night, we lost at home,” Merzlikins said. “And coming to this building, we all know that it's been trouble for us. In past years, we didn't win many games here in this building, so once again, we beat them in their home, and that's huge for us.”

Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assist, Ryan Shea also scored and Malkin had two assists for the Penguins (6-2-1), who had won four straight. Arturs Silovs made 37 saves.

“We came back from two-goal deficit, getting a point,” Silovs said. “It's not enough, but we have to take pride of that, coming back, sticking to the things we would do the best and I think it was a character point.”

Shea gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead 59 seconds into the first period on a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle.

Coyle responded to tie it 1-1 at 15:44. He was in the crease to push in the puck after Silovs made a save on Dante Fabbro, his first goal for Columbus since being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on June 27.

The goal was upheld after the Penguins unsuccessfully challenged for goaltender interference.

Mantha put Pittsburgh back ahead 2-1 at 18:01 from the top of the left circle.

Voronkov then tied it 2-2 at 17:39 of the second period, taking a pass from behind by Kent Johnson in the slot.

“I think we’ve got to be a little bit tighter, get out of our own end,” Penguins center Sidney Crosby said. “If we do that, we show we can create chances. The last couple games we've been outshot, on our heels a little bit. So, we've got to find a way to dictate playing, whether that's getting out of our zone quick or executing a little better.”

Chinakhov gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 lead at 1:55 of the third period with his first goal of the season, finishing on a wrist shot.

Voronkov extended it to 4-2 at 4:54 with his second goal of the game when he redirected Sean Monahan’s shot at the right post before the Penguins rallied.

“Three, four minutes, there they tie it up,” Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski said. “But I thought for most of the game we were in total control, and I like the way we played. We really didn't give them too much. Back there at the end, had some mistakes, but then we found a way to get a point, get it to the shootout. We’ve got some guys that stepped up and we’re going home with two points.”

NOTES: Merzlikins earned his 97th career win to surpass Steve Mason (96 wins) for the second most in franchise history behind Sergei Bobrovsky (213). … Voronkov has five points (three goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak. … Blue Jackets forward Zach Aston-Reese had an assist for his 100th NHL point (48 goals, 52 assists) in 397 games. … Penguins forward Rickard Rakell left the game at 4:54 of the third period with an undisclosed injury. There was no update. …Crosby had a five-game point streak (five goals, four assists) and a four-game goal streak (five goals) end. … Malkin extended his point streak to six games (two goals, seven assists). … The Penguins have an 18-game home point streak (16-0-2) vs. the Blue Jackets dating to Dec. 21, 2015.