On March 8, 1971, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier met former champ Muhammad Ali in the first of an epic three-fight trilogy. Appropriately dubbed the “Fight of the Century,” the bout hung in the balance until Frazier floored Ali with a vicious left hook in the 15th round to earn a unanimous decision.
A different type of slugger-vs-boxer matchup played out on the Nationwide Arena ice last night, pitting our high-flying Penguins against the bruising Columbus Blue Jackets.
Round One went to the slugger. Big time.
To put it bluntly, the Pens had the stuffing knocked out of them.
For boxing aficionados, think Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling. Sonny Liston vs Floyd Patterson. Or Ken Norton vs Duane Bobick.
It didn’t start out that way. Quite the opposite, in fact.
On their toes—in pugilistic vernacular—the Pens used their superior speed to pepper the Blue Jackets through the early going. Sidney Crosby struck just 2:39 into the contest with a stinging right cross of a goal off a juicy rebound.
The locals proceeded to jab their way to a 7-1 edge in shots (remember those numbers) when Ian Cole nailed Josh Anderson square in the schnozz with an errant high stick midway through the opening frame.
Outlasting a determined Pens penalty kill, the Jackets knotted the score on a classic Cam Atkinson counter punch.
The rest of the game bore an eerie resemblance to Rocky III. Using their superior size and strength to full advantage, the Jackets (Clubber Lang) pinned the defending Cup champs (Rocky Balboa) against the ropes and wouldn’t let them escape.
After softening our Penguins up, William Karlsson beat a wilting Derrick Pouliot and goalie Matt Murray like a pair of announcer Mike Lange’s proverbial rented mules.
Two minutes later ex-Flyers villain Scott Hartnell victimized Pouliot and Murray again. While the Jackets piled up a decisive 12-6 edge in second-period shots on goal, heavyweight defenseman Jack Johnson reinforced the home team’s domination by flinging Pens middleweight Scott Wilson to the ice like a rag doll during a net-front tussle.
If the black and gold harbored any hopes for a dramatic third-period rally, they quickly dissolved. Plain and simple, the Blue Jackets took the Pens apart in the final 20 minutes. Giving the Columbus “Goal Cannon” a strenuous workout Hartnell, Brandon Saad and Boone Jenner turned our guys into their personal punching bag while beating a shell-shocked Murray three times in a span of 51 seconds.
Enter Marc-Andre Fleury.
“Flower” had barely finished stretching when Hartnell landed the knockout blow (his third goal of the night) to run the score to 7-1.
No one would’ve blamed Pens coach Mike Sullivan had he elected to throw in the towel. Mercifully, the Blue Jackets inflicted minimal damage the rest of the way.
My impressions? Columbus is for real. Pouliot is not (sorry kid). And I’d love to see how the Pens fare with a healthy Kris Letang and Trevor Daley defending the back end the next time the rivals clash in Pittsburgh on February 3.
Back to the scorecard. Columbus by kayo.
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