{"id":391441,"date":"2026-01-05T06:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T06:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/391441\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T06:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T06:43:10","slug":"columbus-blue-jackets-drop-1st-period-lead-lose-5-4-in-ot-to-penguins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/391441\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbus Blue Jackets drop 1st period lead, lose 5-4 in OT to Penguins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Blue Jackets<\/a> built a 4-1 lead on Jan. 4 but failed to pressure the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> on offense past the first period. The result was a 5-4 overtime loss, the third time the Jackets have lost against the Penguins this season after holding a multi-goal lead.<\/p>\n

After Rickard Rakell pushed the puck past Columbus goalie Jet Greaves with 12.8 seconds remaining in regulation, Penguins star center Sidney Crosby delivered the game-winner in overtime.<\/p>\n

“I feel like sometimes when we get a lead, we just resort to almost playing too simple and just giving the puck to the other team,” Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski <\/a>said. “Obviously, good teams will make you pay like that.”<\/p>\n

The Penguins scored at the 1:50 mark with Ville Koivunen converting an unassisted shot. The Jackets turned on the afterburners shortly after. Getting the puck in the offensive zone, defenseman Denton Mateychuk fired a shot from the left side of the ice that Dmitri Voronkov tipped in for his 15th goal of the season.<\/p>\n

Less than a minute later, Kirill Marchenko found Adam Fantilli, who pushed the puck to the goalie. The shot was blocked, but Mason Marchment converted the rebound to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead.<\/p>\n

The Jackets got another boost before the end of the first period. Werenski fired a perfect pass to Marchenko on the left side of the net for his 15th goal of the season.<\/p>\n

Werenski delivered again to begin the second period. Jackets captain Boone Jenner played physically behind the Penguins’ net to regain possession on a forecheck and passed it to a swerving Werenski in the center of the ice. Werenski took it to the net himself to score.<\/p>\n

After Werenksi’s goal, the Penguins surmounted offensive pressure. Taking advantage of sloppy Blue Jackets’ clearing efforts, Penguins fourth-line winger Noel Acciari received a through pass from Connor Dewar. He cut the deficit to two goals against a cooling Blue Jackets’ offense.<\/p>\n

A key to the Blue Jackets’ late-December success was penalty kill, as they prevented goals on over nine power-play minutes against the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> on Jan. 3. But the Blue Jackets had a breakdown on the Penguins’ first power play minutes of the third period. Despite winning a faceoff in the defensive zone, Mateychuk lost the puck while the Penguins found a wide-open Tommy Novak to make it a one-score game.<\/p>\n

With 12.8 seconds remaining, the Penguins got their clutch moment from the first line with 12.8 seconds remaining when Rakell scored directly in front of the net.<\/p>\n

“We extended our shift at the end, too. We should have had more jump,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “We’ve got to trust our teammates in that situation as well.”<\/p>\n

Ex-Blue Jacket Yegor Chinakhov makes return to Columbus after trade to Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n

Last month, Yegor Chinakhov<\/a> was playing on the second line for the Jackets. On Jan. 3, he entered Nationwide Arena as a visitor for the first time in his career, playing third line for the Penguins six days after being traded for draft capital and Danton Heinen.<\/p>\n

Chinakhov scored his first goal for the Penguins Jan. 3 against the Detroit Red Wings<\/a>. He received some boos in the first period when shown on the Blue Jackets’ jumbotron sitting on the bench. He finished with 12:39 time on ice and a +1 plus-minus rating.<\/p>\n

Who was scratched for the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> game against the Pittsburgh Penguins?<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets scratched Sean Monahan and Dysin Mayo in back-to-back games against the Sabres on Jan. 3 and Penguins Jan. 4.<\/p>\n

Monahan was a late scratch for “maintenance” ahead of the Blue Jackets’ road game against the Senators Dec. 28 and has yet to return to the lineup. Mayo, a defenseman, remains on the roster because of Brendan Smith’s lower-body injury, but Mayo was scratched because of the return of Zach Werenski. Smith went on IR on Jan. 2.<\/p>\n

Columbus Blue Jackets schedule 2025-26<\/p>\n

October<\/p>\n

Oct 9:\u00a0@ Nashville, 2\u20131, LossOct 11:\u00a0@ Minnesota, 7\u20134, WinOct 13:\u00a0vs New Jersey, 3\u20132, LossOct 16:\u00a0vs Colorado, 4\u20131, LossOct 18:\u00a0vs Tampa Bay, 3\u20132, WinOct 21:\u00a0@ Dallas, 5\u20131, WinOct 24:\u00a0vs Washington, 5\u20131, LossOct 25:\u00a0@ Pittsburgh, 5\u20134 SO, WinOct 28:\u00a0@ Buffalo, 4\u20133 OT, WinOct 29:\u00a0vs Toronto, 6\u20133, Win<\/p>\n

November<\/p>\n

Nov 1:\u00a0vs St. Louis, 3\u20132, WinNov 2:\u00a0@ Islanders, 3\u20132, LossNov 5:\u00a0@ Calgary, 5\u20131, LossNov 8:\u00a0@ Vancouver, 4\u20133, LossNov 10:\u00a0@ Edmonton, 5\u20134 OT, LossNov 11:\u00a0@ Seattle, 2\u20131 SO, WinNov 13:\u00a0vs Edmonton, 5\u20134, WinNov 15:\u00a0vs Rangers, 2\u20131 SO, LossNov 17:\u00a0vs Montreal, 4\u20133 SO, WinNov 18:\u00a0@ Winnipeg, 5\u20132, LossNov 20:\u00a0@ Toronto, 3\u20132 OT, WinNov 22:\u00a0@ Detroit, 4\u20133 OT, LossNov 24:\u00a0@ Washington, 5\u20131, LossNov 26:\u00a0vs Toronto, 2\u20131 OT, LossNov 28:\u00a0vs Pittsburgh, 4\u20133 OT, Loss<\/p>\n

December<\/p>\n

Dec 1:\u00a0@ New Jersey, 5\u20133, WinDec 4:\u00a0vs Detroit, 6\u20135 SO, WinDec 6:\u00a0@ Florida, 7\u20136 OT, LossDec 7:\u00a0@ Washington, 2\u20130, LossDec 9:\u00a0@ Carolina, 4\u20131, LossDec 11:\u00a0vs Ottawa, 6\u20133, LossDec 13:\u00a0vs Vegas, 3\u20132, LossDec 16:\u00a0vs Anaheim, 4\u20133 OT, WinDec 18:\u00a0vs Minnesota, 5\u20132, LossDec 20:\u00a0@ Anaheim, 4-3 LossDec 22:\u00a0@ Los Angeles, 3-2 WinDec 28:\u00a0vs Islanders, 4-2 WinDec 29:\u00a0@ Ottawa, 4-3 WinDec 31:\u00a0vs New Jersey, 3-1 Loss<\/p>\n

January<\/p>\n

Jan 3:\u00a0vs Buffalo, 5-1 WinJan 4:\u00a0vs Pittsburgh, 5-4 OT, LossJan 6:\u00a0@ San Jose, 10:00 PMJan 8:\u00a0@ Vegas, 10:00 PMJan 10:\u00a0@ Colorado, 4:00 PMJan 11:\u00a0@ Utah, 7:00 PMJan 13:\u00a0vs Calgary, 7:00 PMJan 15:\u00a0vs Vancouver, 7:00 PMJan 17:\u00a0@ Pittsburgh, 7:00 PMJan 20:\u00a0vs Ottawa, 7:00 PMJan 22:\u00a0vs Dallas, 7:00 PMJan 24:\u00a0vs Tampa Bay, 7:00 PMJan 26:\u00a0vs Los Angeles, 7:00 PMJan 28:\u00a0vs Philadelphia, 7:30 PMJan 30:\u00a0@ Chicago, 8:30 PMJan 31:\u00a0@ St. Louis, 7:00 PM<\/p>\n

February<\/p>\n

Feb 3:\u00a0@ New Jersey, 7:00 PMFeb 4:\u00a0vs Chicago, 7:00 PMFeb 26:\u00a0@ Boston, 7:00 PMFeb 28:\u00a0vs Islanders, 6:00 PM<\/p>\n

March<\/p>\n

March 2:\u00a0@ Rangers, 7:00 PMMarch 3:\u00a0vs Nashville, 7:00 PMMarch 5:\u00a0vs Florida, 7:00 PMMarch 7:\u00a0vs Utah, 7:00 PMMarch 10:\u00a0@ Tampa Bay, 7:00 PMMarch 12:\u00a0@ Florida, 7:00 PMMarch 14:\u00a0@ Philadelphia, 7:30 PMMarch 17:\u00a0vs Carolina, 7:00 PMMarch 19:\u00a0vs Rangers, 7:00 PMMarch 21:\u00a0vs Seattle, 5:00 PMMarch 22:\u00a0@ Islanders, 7:00 PMMarch 24:\u00a0@ Philadelphia, 7:00 PMMarch 26:\u00a0@ Montreal, 7:00 PMMarch 28:\u00a0vs San Jose, 5:00 PMMarch 29:\u00a0vs Boston, 5:00 PMMarch 31:\u00a0vs Carolina, 7:30 PM<\/p>\n

April<\/p>\n

April 2:\u00a0@ Carolina, 7:00 PMApril 4:\u00a0vs Winnipeg, 7:00 PMApril 7:\u00a0@ Detroit, 7:00 PMApril 9:\u00a0@ Buffalo, 7:00 PMApril 11:\u00a0@ Montreal, 7:00 PMApril 12:\u00a0vs Boston, 6:00 PMApril 14:\u00a0vs Washington, 7:00 PM<\/p>\n

This story was updated to include quotes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Blue Jackets built a 4-1 lead on Jan. 4 but failed to pressure the Pittsburgh Penguins on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5113],"tags":[5328,1942,898,1107,229,897,230,599,93,5253,5329,5,899,80,40,4,566,79,85,118,1469,100,5216,600,1108,43,86,837,5257,5254,5385,601,5384,2566],"class_list":{"0":"post-391441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-penguins","8":"tag-adam","9":"tag-adam-fantilli","10":"tag-blue","11":"tag-buffalo","12":"tag-buffalo-sabres","13":"tag-columbus","14":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","15":"tag-detroit","16":"tag-detroit-red-wings","17":"tag-explainer","18":"tag-fantilli","19":"tag-hockey","20":"tag-jackets","21":"tag-neutral","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-nhl","24":"tag-not","25":"tag-overall","26":"tag-overall-neutral","27":"tag-penguins","28":"tag-pittsburgh","29":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","30":"tag-pittsburghpenguins","31":"tag-red","32":"tag-sabres","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-sports-news","35":"tag-ttp","36":"tag-ttp-explainer-not-visual","37":"tag-visual","38":"tag-werenski","39":"tag-wings","40":"tag-zach","41":"tag-zach-werenski"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115841138924442060","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}