The Columbus Blue Jackets tied the game with 4:49 remaining in the third period, but Jake Guentzel completed his hat trick at 13:10 of overtime as the Pittsburgh Penguins won 5-4 and took a 3-0 lead in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round playoff series. It's their first 3-0 series lead since they swept the Carolina Hurricanes in four games in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.
* Guentzel became the second NHL rookie with a hat trick in the postseason that included an overtime goal, following the Montreal Canadiens' Gerry Plamondon in Game 2 of the 1949 NHL Semifinals at the Detroit Red Wings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The only other Penguins player at any stage of his career to accomplish the feat was Ron Francis against the New York Rangers in Game 4 of 1992 Patrick Division Final.
* Elias adds that Guentzel became the first Penguins rookie with a hat trick in the playoffs and fourth rookie in franchise history to score a postseason overtime goal, joining Michel Briere against the Oakland Seals in Game 4 of the 1970 NHL Quarterfinals, Jaromir Jagr against the New Jersey Devils in Game 2 of the 1991 Patrick Division Semifinals and Conor Sheary against the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of 2016 Stanley Cup Final.
* Guentzel, who had 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) in 40 games during the regular season, had his second straight winning goal as well as his second consecutive multipoint performance. He had a goal and an assist in Game 2.
SUNDAY'S RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
ST. LOUIS 3, Minnesota 1 - STL leads 3-0
Pittsburgh 5, COLUMBUS 4 (OT) - PIT leads 3-0
Montreal 3, NY RANGERS 1 - MTL leads 2-1
Edmonton 1, SAN JOSE 0 - EDM leads 2-1
DID YOU KNOW?
The Penguins overcame a 3-1 deficit before securing their victory in overtime.
* Elias notes that eight of the 20 games in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs have seen the winning team overcome a deficit, including four multigoal comebacks.
* Six of the eight series in the first round have required overtime in at least one game, with road teams holding a 4-3 edge in those games.
ALLEN, SCHWARTZ GUIDE BLUES TO 3-0 SERIES LEAD OVER WILD
* Allen has turned aside 114 of 117 shots through three games, allowing one goal in all three victories for a 0.91 goals-against average and .974 save percentage. Elias notes that he became the first Blues goaltender to win the first three games of a playoff series while allowing no more than one goal in each game.
* The Blues have not trailed at any point during the series (197:48) and have held the lead for 103:51 of total playing time (52.5 percent).
OILERS, CANADIENS GRAB 2-1 SERIES LEADS ON THE ROAD
The Edmonton Oilers and Canadiens, who each lost Game 1 of their respective series at home, took 2-1 series leads via road wins:
* For the second straight game, Cam Talbot (23 saves) had a shutout and Zack Kassian scored the winning goal as the Oilers took a 2-1 series lead with a victory against the Sharks at SAP Center. Talbot became the second Oilers goaltender with a shutout in consecutive playoff games, joining Curtis Joseph, who did it against the Colorado Avalanche in Games 6-7 of 1998 Western Conference Quarterfinals. Kassian became the first Oilers player to score a game-winning goal in consecutive postseason games since Fernando Pisani against the Carolina Hurricanes in Games 5-6 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final.
LOOSE PUCKS
Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson (2-0-2) opened the scoring 11 seconds into the game to establish a franchise record for fastest goal to begin a playoff game, shattering the mark of 1:38 set by Boone Jenner against the Penguins in Game 3 of the 2014 Eastern Conference First Round. … Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin (1-2-3) had his 14th three-point NHL postseason game and leads the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs in scoring with six points (two goals, four assists) in three games. … Elias notes that Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (19 years, 271 days) became the youngest player in franchise history to score in the playoffs and youngest defenseman on any team to do so since the Devils' Adam Larsson (19 years, 170 days) against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals. … Marc Andre-Fleury made 33 saves for his 56th NHL postseason win to tie Tom Barrasso for the most by a Penguins goaltender.
SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY'S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Ottawa @ Boston, series tied 1-1 - 7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, CNBC, NESN
Washington @ Toronto, series tied 1-1 - 7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVA Sports 2, NBCSN, CSN-DC
Chicago @ Nashville, NSH leads 2-0 - 9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, TVA Sports, CNBC, FS-TN, CSN-CH
Anaheim @ Calgary, ANA leads 2-0 - 10 p.m. ET; CBC, TVA Sports 2, NBCSN, PRIME
- NHL Public Relations
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