Columbus @ Pittsburgh preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 26, 2019 ) Pittsburgh 5, Columbus 2

The Columbus Blue Jackets admitted to feeling fortunate to skate away with their second win in five outings since the NHL trade deadline, but the team has been stuck in the mud in each of the last seven encounters against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Blue Jackets bid to get better traction on Thursday when they open a home-and-home series against their Metropolitan Division rival in Pittsburgh.

"We're lucky to come away with two points, let alone one," Cam Atkinson said after he scored his career-high 36th goal in regulation and tallied in the shootout of Tuesday's 2-1 win over sputtering New Jersey. While the 29-year-old has scored in Columbus' 4-2 setback at Pittsburgh on Nov. 24 and again in a 5-2 loss to the Penguins on Feb. 26, superstar captain Sidney Crosby powered his team to the pair of wins by recording multi-point performances in each outing. The two-time Hart Trophy recipient posted his fifth straight multi-point effort by scoring a goal and setting up two others in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime win versus Florida to boost his total to five goals and eight assists in that stretch. Pittsburgh has recorded a point at least a point in five straight (3-0-2) and is 7-2-2 in the last 11 to occupy one of the wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Columbus.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVAS, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh

ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (37-26-3): While Columbus has struggled in recent meetings with Pittsburgh, that's not to say that all of its players are singing the same sorry tune. Trade acquisition Matt Duchene scored three goals and set up another in two meetings with the Penguins while playing with Ottawa before being held off the scoresheet in his last one while suiting up with the Blue Jackets. Fellow former Senator Ryan Dzingel has one goal and four assists versus Pittsburgh this season, although he has been held off the scoresheet each of his last three games.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (35-22-9): Jake Guentzel capped his second two-goal performance in as many games by scoring in overtime on Tuesday to push his career-high total to a team-best 33 tallies. "I've always believed Jake has that I-T. That's part of the reason he has such chemistry with Sid because he has that 'it' factor," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said of the 24-year-old Guentzel, who recorded his first career regular-season hat trick in the first encounter with Columbus before scoring again in the more recent meeting. Guentzel's first career three-goal game, ironically, came in the 2017 playoffs versus the Blue Jackets, against whom he has seven goals and 11 points in nine regular-season meetings.

OVERTIME

1. Pittsburgh G Matt Murray turned aside 21 shots in the more recent tilt with Columbus to improve to 7-1-1 in nine games against the club.

2. Blue Jackets LW Artemi Panarin has recorded 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 10 career contests versus the Penguins.

3. Pittsburgh RW Phil Kessel, who has four assists in his last five games overall, has set up a goal in both encounters with Columbus this season.

PREDICTION: Penguins 4, Blue Jackets 3