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Pittsburgh Penguins Defeat Columbus Blue Jackets, Move on to Round 2

By Matthew Rodrigopulle

Apr 20, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Phil Kessel (81) skates with the puck as Columbus Blue Jackets center Lukas Sedlak (45) chases during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena. The Pens won the game 5-2 and the series 4 games to 1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 20, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Phil Kessel (81) skates with the puck as Columbus Blue Jackets center Lukas Sedlak (45) chases during the second period in game five of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena. The Pens won the game 5-2 and the series 4 games to 1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Thursday night, winning their first round series 4-1!

After giving up the chance at a sweep on Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins came back stronger than ever in game five on Thursday looking to finish the round off.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins /

Pittsburgh Penguins

Columbus came ready to play in desperation mode, but their efforts could not meet the Penguins, who defeated them easily by a score of 5-2.

First Period

Just like every other game this series, the first period started off slow in this game.

Closing in on the halfway point of the period, the Penguins got a much-needed power play. On the power play our offence went to work. Phil Kessel sniped a wrist shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, that was the only goal scored in the first. The Penguins need to generate more offence in the first.

Second Period

Here is where the game really started to intensify.

Right off the bat, Bryan Rust came in and scored to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead. But that wasn’t all. Just a couple of minutes later, he scored his second of the game to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead! Rust notched his fourth and fifth goals of the post-season last night.

The celebrations didn’t last too long however, as the Blue Jackets were able to score two goals on the Penguins to close out the period.

Heading into the third period with a 3-2 lead, the Penguins knew they would have to truly bring it in the third if they wanted to close out the series and avoid a game six.

Third Period

The third started out very intensely. Both teams wanted the W, and they made it clear. The Penguins however seemed to want it more, and just five minutes into the period Sidney Crosby let out a great one-timer to put the Penguins up by two.

The Penguins played great defence and Marc-Andre Fleury made some spectacular saves to keep the lead.

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Luckily, Scott Wilson got the insurance marker by potting the fifth Penguins goal of the game.

Penguins won 5-2 and advance to the second round. They will face the winner of the Washington Capitals/Toronto Maple Leafs series, which is currently tied 2-2.

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