The Columbus Blue Jackets came into Pittsburgh hoping to win a game. The Penguins hoped that their comeback against Tampa Bay would not be the end of their good fortune. Thanks to Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins got what they wanted. Fleury stoned the Blue Jackets on 15 first period shots and was again huge in the third stopping 10 of 11 and 33 of 34 overall. He won the Penguins this game.

And it was his goal tending that allowed the Penguins to eventually get a 1-0 lead in the second off of Kris Letang’s 4th of the year. Letang (5) would add another nearly ten minutes later to make the score 3-0. In the end the Penguins wound up with a 4-1 victory and two wins in a row playing a fairly consistent and gritty game. Crosby (21) scored an empty netter at the end to seal the win.

Columbus fell to 24-23-5 on the year and the win, while it helped the Penguins moral did not move them up in the standings. They are still in 10th place behind Carolina who also has 57pts but also a game in hand. They are one point back of the Panthers that have two games in hand.

The real test is this Sunday against a struggling Detroit squad that is only 4-4-2 in their last ten but coming off two wins against St. Louis and Pheonix with a game against the Oilers the night before. The Penguins must play hard and really must win that game to prove that they are ready to make a run here with time and games running out.