COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Penguins rallied from a two-goal deficit in the final three minutes of regulation en route to a 4-3 shootout victory against Columbus at Nationwide Arena tonight.
The Penguins are 11-2 and will face Minnesota Saturday at 7:38 p.m. at Mellon Arena.
Penguins goalie Brent Johnson stopped Antoine Vermette, Rick Nash and Kristian Huselius during the shootout; Columbus goalie Steve Mason denied Kris Letang, but could not stop Sidney Crosby.
Nash, the Blue Jackets' all-star winger, got the only goal of the opening period, as he swatted a rebound past Johnson while on his knees in front of the crease.
Nash got his goal during a power play at 18:13, while Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik was serving a slashing minor.
Nash struck again at 5:37 of the second, taking a feed from Antoine Vermette and beating Johnson from low in the right circle for his eighth of the season.
Mason came up with the save of the game midway through the second, as he got his glove on a Crosby shot from the inner edge of the left circle. Crosby had taken a cross-ice feed from Chris Bourque and got off an uncontested shot.
Chris Kunitz got the Penguins back within striking distance with a shorthanded goal at 11:55.
Seconds after Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin lunged and knocked Kunitz's feed out from under him during a breakaway, Kunitz took a pass from Crosby and beat Mason from the inner edge of the left circle.
It was his second goal in two games after he failed to score any in the first 11 this season.
The Penguins surged after Kunitz scored, but Derick Dorsett restored the Blue Jackets' two-goal edge when he took a pass from Samuel Pahlsson and tossed a backhander past Johnson at 17:50.
The Penguins seemed doomed when they were still down two with less than three minutes left in regulation, but scored twice in 39 seconds to pull even.
Ruslan Fedotenko made it 3-2 at 17:04, when he collected a rebound off the backboards and tossed it into the net from between the left circle and crease for his third of the season.
Alex Goligoski then pulled the Penguins even for the first time since it was 0-0 at 17:43, beating Mason with a wrist shot from about 10 feet above the right hash to force overtime.
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