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The Boko Imama Game: Penguins reign victorious 6-3 over Blue Jackets

The Penguins were led by an unlikely hero in Boko Imama in this one as he tallied his first goal of the year and a fight and was the first star of the game as the Penguins won their 5th game out of their last 6.
ByTyler Miller|
Mar 21, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Bokondji Imama (14) and Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Mathieu Olivier (24) fight during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Mar 21, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Bokondji Imama (14) and Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Mathieu Olivier (24) fight during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Penguins came into this Friday night battle with the Blue Jackets looking to avenge their latest collapse to the New York Islanders and they did just that. The Penguins led the whole entire time in this one as they got goals from their depth players. Imama and Acciari tallied goals and Alex Nedeljkovic looked strong and made 44-of-47 saves for his first victory since February 7 as the Penguins got back in the win column.

First Period

The Penguins got the scoring started pretty quickly as Evgeni Malkin tapped home a rebound past Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins and the Penguins were out to a 1-0 lead 5:28 into this contest.

The Penguins were not done there as Noel Acciari backhanded one home off a nice pass from Blake Lizotte and suddenly it was 2-0 Penguins.

The Blue Jackets had an answer 16 seconds later as Boone Jenner was left all alone and beat Nedeljkovic and it was 2-1 Penguins.

But the Penguins had one more goal in them in this period as Rakell finished off a sweet tic-tac-toe with Crosby and Rust for a 3-1 Penguins lead going into the second period.

Second Period

The Penguins started out the second period pretty sloppy as Connor Timmins put the puck in his own net and Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth got credit for the goal and it was 3-2 Penguins early in the period.

But here comes unlikely hero Boko Imama as he let a laser of a wrister go and it beat Merzlikins clean for a 4-2 Penguins lead and the celebration was like no other and otherworldly.

Again the Penguins had one more goal in them in this period as Crosby did Crosby things and redirected a wrister from the point from Matt Grzelcyk and it was 5-2 Penguins. Crosby is still on another planet this late in his career and is still a joy to watch every game.

Third Period

The Blue Jackets again got on the board early in the period as forward Kent Johnson beat Alex Nedeljkovic and it was 5-3 Penguins and Penguins fans were saying to themselves: not again not this again as they feared another blown third period lead.

But that was not the case as Bryan Rust finished this one off into the empty cage in the final two minutes of the contest and that was all she wrote from PPG Paints Arena as the Penguins took this one 6-3 over their Metro division rivals.

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