Three Things: Marchenko's Shootout Tally The Difference As Blue Jackets Edge Penguins 5-4, Voronkov Scores Twice

By Will Chase on October 26, 2025 at 8:15 am
Oct 25, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins (90) celebrates a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins with center Sean Monahan (23) after a shoot-out at PPG Paints Arena. The Blue Jackets won 5-4.
© Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images
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That's a way to win a hockey game.

Kirill Marchenko's goal in the shootout was the difference on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4. Columbus has won three of its last four games.

Kent Johnson and Adam Fantilli also scored in the shootout. 

Dmitri Voronkov had two goals in regulation and was one of 10 point-getters for the Jackets. Charlie Coyle and Yegor Chinakhov added goals for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins made 26 saves and picked up his 97th career win to pass Steve Mason for the second-most wins in franchise history.

Riley Shea, Anthony Mantha, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust scored for Pittsburgh. Arturs Silovs made 37 saves. The loss snaps Pittsburgh’s four game winning streak.

"Our commitment was fantastic," head coach Dean Evason said. "Obviously, our composure was good when it could have went sideways again."

Here are the three takeaways from Saturday’s win.

Thing One: Turning The Page

Last season, the Blue Jackets were a paltry 2-10-0 in the second half of back-to-back games.

In their first of 15 back-to-back sets this season, Columbus was eager to turn the page from Friday's 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals. Evason believes his group will start getting the winning results if they keep playing the way they are.

"We're very mature in that room," Evason said before Saturday's game. "They will handle it the right way. They have handled it the right way."

Well, the start didn’t go exactly as planned, but consider it a slight hiccup.

Shea scored 59 seconds into the first to give Pittsburgh the 1-0 lead and put Columbus behind the eight ball. Anthony Mantha and Parker Wotherspoon picked up the assists.

But then the start did improve.

Fantilli and Connor Clifton collided in the first period, and Fantilli slowly headed to the bench but returned shortly and had a nice couple of chances at the net. It was as if the early hit set him off.

Then there was Matt Dumba dumping Boone Jenner in the slot, to which Jenner went after Dumba, and the two fought. It was Jenner’s first fight since March 30, 2023, when he fought Brandon Carlo.

Finally, the goals started to come.

Charlie Coyle scored his first as a Blue Jacket to tie the game 1-1 at 15:44. Pittsburgh challenged for goaltender interference, but the call on the ice would stand.

The Jackets outshot Pittsburgh 16-7 and had a 31-11 advantage in shot attempts in the first period, though the Penguins led 2-1. For the game, the Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 41-30 and had a 75-60 advantage for shot attempts.

The Blue Jackets' second set of back-to-backs will occur when they face the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday and then return home to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Columbus has three back-to-back contests in November.

Thing Two: A Gritty Resiliant Third Period

On Friday night, a one-goal deficit turned into a 3-0 hole early in the third period. It was a role reversal on Saturday.

Yegor Chinakhov scored at 1:55 of the third to break a 2-2 stalemate and give Columbus its first lead at 3-2. Zach-Aston Reese's assist on the goal gave him his 100th career point. He had 62 career points (29 goals, 33 assists) in 213 games spanning five seasons for the Penguins. Isac Lundestrom added the assist for his first point as a Blue Jacket.

At the 4:54 mark, Voronkov scored his second goal of the night. He's on a four-game point streak (three goals, two assists). Voronkov has a point in all but one game – the lone game versus Colorado on Oct. 16 — this season.

It's never easy in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins added two goals in two minutes to tie the game 4-4. Letang's power play goal made it 4-3 at 14:54 (Assists: Tommy Novak, Silovs), and Rust's game-tying goal occurred at 16:54 (Assists: Malkin, Erik Karlsson). With two assists on the night, Malkin picked up his 1,360th career point, surpassing Mike Modano for 10th all-time among players with one team, according to ESPN.

Per the FanDuel Sports Network Columbus broadcast, the Blue Jackets entered this game with no goals from players on the third or fourth line currently in their lineup. Coyle and Chinakhov ended that drought.

Thing Three: The Shootout Magic Continues

The Blue Jackets survived their first overtime of 2025-26 and then did what they did a lot last season: Win a shootout.

Columbus was 6-1 in the shootout last year while Pittsburgh was 1-6. Merzlikins was nearly flawless in those skills competitions, and that trend continued Saturday.

Johnson started the scoring for Columbus, and Fantilli and Marchenko followed up with goals. The first two Pittsburgh shooters, Rust and Sidney Crosby, would score, but when a stop was needed in the end, Merzlikins was there to thwart Evgeni Malkin.

Merzlikins made 11 shorthanded saves on the night as the Penguins went 1-for-2 on the power play.

It's the Blue Jackets' second consecutive win in Pittsburgh since Jan. 7, 2025, when they also beat the Penguins 4-3 in a shootout. That win in January was their first in the Steel City since Nov. 13, 2015. It's their second win in the last 18 trips to Pittsburgh.

Up Next:

Columbus concludes the two-game road trip on Tuesday at Buffalo when they skate with the Sabres from KeyBank Center at 6:45 p.m.

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