Goaltender Matt Murray stopped all 25 shots he faced Thursday as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 in an important Metropolitan Division matchup.

It was Murray's fourth shutout this season and 10th of his career. He is 5-0-2 in his past seven starts.

Phil Kessel, Nick Bjugstad and Sidney Crosby scored for Pittsburgh, which won its third straight game and moved four points ahead of Columbus as both teams try to sew up a playoff spot.

The Penguins have won eight in a row against the Blue Jackets and are 9-0-1 in the teams' past 10 meetings.

Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of six.

Korpisalo, the third-stringer, was something of a surprise starter. No. 1 goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who has struggled against Pittsburgh in recent seasons, did not dress. Second-stringer Keith Kinkaid, a trade deadline acquisition who 6-3-2 in his career against the Penguins, served as the backup.

After what was a physical game, the teams have a rematch in the second half of a home-and-home set Saturday at Columbus. Pittsburgh can sweep the season series with a win.

The Penguins got an early power play when Columbus' Scott Harrington tripped Bjugstad. They cashed when Evgeni Malkin, from behind the net, served up a one-time chance for Kessel near the right post. Kessel's one-timer banked in off Korpisalo at 2:22 of the first.

That gave Kessel 22 goals, but it was his first in 17 games. The goal survived a Columbus coach's challenge that Pittsburgh's Patric Hornqivst interfered with Korpisalo.

With 1:13 left in the second, Bjugstad made it 2-0. After sustained pressure by Pittsburgh in the Blue Jackets' end, Bjugstad's spinning shot from the mid-slot around a two-player screen scooted between Korpisalo's pads.

Crosby scored an empty-netter for his 31st goal and 87th point with 30.8 seconds left in regulation, extending the lead to 3-0 and extending his goal streak to six games.

--Field Level Media