PITTSBURGH – Chris Kunitz scored his second goal of the game 44 seconds into overtime to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 pre-season win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Penguins’ first game since winning the Stanley Cup in June.
Sidney Crosby had two goals and assisted on the winner for Pittsburgh, which also got a goal from Chris Conner.
Maxim Mayorov had two goals and Jakub Voracek and Alexandre Picard also scored for Columbus, which is coming off its first playoff appearance in franchise history.
Most stars on both teams did not play – including reigning NHL scoring champion Evgeni Malkin and Bill Guerin for the Penguins and Rick Nash and reigning Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason for the Blue Jackets.
The Penguins trailed 3-0 after two periods but came back to tie it before Picard scored with 2:02 to play for the Blue Jackets. But Kunitz answered 17 seconds later to send the game to overtime.
Less than a minute into overtime, Kunitz took a pass in the slot from Crosby, who had stolen the puck behind the net.
Mayorov scored twice in a span of 4:24 late in the second period.
The game was originally scheduled for Sept. 25 but moved back because Pittsburgh is hosting the G-20 summit of world leaders that day and traffic is heavily restricted around the city.
The Penguins just reported to camp Saturday – two days after being honoured at the White House by President Barack Obama. They went through only their third practice of training camp earlier in the day Tuesday.
