Cam Talbot is the only reason Columbus walked away with two points on Friday. Anyone who thinks the Blue Jackets' third period doesn't need an asterisk wasn't watching the same game.
The shot and possession numbers through the first two periods were lopsided enough to make this look like a laugher in the making. Columbus outshot Pittsburgh 45-22 on the night, won two-thirds of the draws, and out-hit the Penguins 21-9. For long stretches, Pittsburgh couldn't get the puck out of its own zone, let alone generate offense. That's the version of this game Columbus fans want to remember.
What actually happened was different. Evgeni Malkin tied it at 2-2 with time still left in the third period. Pittsburgh had been outplayed for nearly an entire game and simply willed its way back into it. A team that dominates play the way Columbus did for 57 minutes doesn't get to blow a lead with the clock running down. Columbus did both Friday, and the blown lead is the part fans should remember.
That's where Talbot comes in. He made 20 saves in regulation, then had a perfect night in the shootout, stopping all three Pittsburgh attempts to close it out. Talbot, making his debut in this sweater, personally erased a third period his own team should be embarrassed by. It also made him the first goaltender in NHL history to win with nine different franchises, a nice footnote for his career, though it says nothing good about the team in front of him.
The individual bright spots were real. Kent Johnson's shootout winner was the difference. Adam Fantilli won the clear majority of his faceoffs and was all over pucks. Both deserve credit for playing like they wanted to be ahead by three goals rather than just hanging on to a tie against a team that had dropped its last two games. But good shifts from your best young players don't excuse a third period where the rest of the roster seemed to decide the game was already over.
Columbus was missing Ivan Provorov on the blue line, it's early in the schedule, and two points are two points whether you earn them pretty or ugly. All of that is true, and none of it changes what happened on the ice in the third period. Columbus stopped competing once it got comfortable, and only survived because one guy in the building had a historic night.
Give Talbot every bit of credit for stealing this one, because the team in front of him didn't deserve it.
