Written by Jonathan Bombulie at TribLive.com
As they opened the playoffs Wednesday night, the Penguins hearkened back to their two most recent Stanley Cup championships.
Marc-Andre Fleury, the hero of the 2009 run, was the surprise starter in goal.
Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino, clutch performers throughout so much of the 2016 title march, provided the offensive support he needed.
The result was a convincing 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinals series at PPG Paints Arena.
Game 2 is set for Friday night.
“At the end, it was a great feeling,” Fleury said. “It was a fun game to win.”
Just like last season, when Fleury and Matt Murray were out with concussions and Jeff Zatkoff started the first two games of a series with the Rangers, the Penguins began the playoffs with some goaltender drama.
Murray left the ice about halfway through warm-ups with a lower-body injury. It came less than a week after he favored his right leg while making a breakaway save on New Jersey’s Taylor Hall in the third period of his final start of the regular season.
Coach Mike Sullivan said he would have more information about Murray’s condition Thursday.
Fleury said he found out he would be making the 101st postseason appearance of his career on his way off the ice at the end of warm-ups. Goaltending coach Mike Bales delivered the news.
Fleury’s pre-game routine was thrown completely out of whack, of course, but he did his finest work in the first period. The Blue Jackets had the Penguins on their heels, jumping out to a 16-3 shots advantage, but Fleury kept the game scoreless.
Most notably, he aggressively challenged a Zach Werenski shot from the top of the right circle after a cross-ice pass from Scott Hartnell about eight minutes in.
“What can you say about his character and compete level, just to step in and be as good as he was, especially in that first period?” Sullivan said. “We needed him because they controlled the game.”
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