Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Columbus Blue Jackets (43-32-7, 93 points regular-season) and Pittsburgh Penguins (51-24-7, 108 points) clash for Game 1 of their best-of-seven Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoff series live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The game can be live streamed for free here. Columbus fans can hear all of the action on 97.1 The Fan while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on 105.9 WXDX.
Pittsburgh enters as a Stanley Cup favorite while Columbus plays an underdog role in just its second playoff appearance in history. The Penguins defeated the Blue Jackets in all five head-to-head meetings this season.
For the Penguins, all eyes will be on Marc-Andre Fleury, who has struggled a lot in the postseason during his career.
"I think when the playoffs come around, goalies are looked at a lot," Fleury said via NHL.com. "I'm looking forward to getting back in there. I'm looking forward to the game and to the challenge. I'm just excited to play the first game."
Fleury went 39-18-5 with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage in the regular season. He'll be opposed by reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, who went 32-20-5 with a 2.38 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
While the Blue Jackets are somewhat unfamiliar with the NHL Playoffs and come in as underdogs against an overwhelming favorite, the team feels like it will be ready to go.
"We've talked to some guys in here who've played in some playoff games," rookie Boone Jenner told NHL.com. "We know it's going to be a lot more intense."
Ryan Johansen led Columbus in the regular-season with 63 points off of 33 goals and 30 assists while James Wisniewski had seven tallies and 44 helpers for 51 points and Brandon Dubinsky found the back of the net 16 times and added 34 assists for 50 points.
Pittsburgh was paced by Sidney Crosby, who led the NHL in points (104) and assists (68) while adding 36 goals. Evgeni Malkin was second on the Pens in scoring with 72 points off of 23 goals and 49 assists while Chris Kunitz notched 68 points off of 35 markers and 33 helpers.
The Blue Jackets and Penguins kickoff their quests for the Stanley Cup when the lights come up at the Consol Energy Center tonight in Pittsburgh.
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