COLUMBUS, Ohio — They've certainly seen the other side of these outcomes.

Now, the Pittsburgh Penguins are the ones causing problems, spoiling a Sunday afternoon for the fine citizens of Columbus with a stirring comeback that prolonged their New Year celebration.

The result was a 5-4 overtime victory over the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, but the context for coach Dan Muse's team mattered a great deal more than wiping out a three-goal lead or claiming two points. It came down to one thing.

OK, a couple.

“I thought we were playing the right way,” Sidney Crosby said.

“Great response by us,” Arturs Silovs added.

"We feel good about what we’re doing," Muse said.

And they should.

When Zach Werenski scored early in the second period, the Penguins could’ve packed it in. Obviously they did not, instead scoring four unanswered goals to register arguably their most impressive win all season when Crosby scored at 2:22 of overtime.

It was a statement win, one that carries the Penguins (20-12-9) into the season’s midpoint riding high, in possession of a playoff spot and potentially tied for first place in the Metropolitan Division pending the result of Carolina’s game Sunday night.

Who would have thought, right?

Same as the comeback in this one, don’t count ’em out.

“We hung in there,” Crosby said. “I think it was a great test. We found a way.”

To review why this one mattered, let’s start by assessing a little of what we saw:

— The fourth line gave the Penguins belief with Noel Acciari’s goal at 16:51 of the second period. It started with Connor Dewar forcing a turnover. Acciari, by the way, now has three goals in his past seven games.

These guys hunt pucks and create turnovers. There’s a clear identity. And it showed up in a big way Sunday.

“Acciari’s goal changed the game,” Rickard Rakell said. “The third period, we never looked back.”

— No, they most certainly did not. In fact, the Penguins registered a season-high 92 shot attempts, 43 of which they put on goal. It was an impressive offensive onslaught and kept momentum in the Penguins’ favor. Forget passivity — this mentality needs to remain.

— Next, the power play, a weapon all season and the third-best unit in the NHL prior to this game. Ben Kindel created a turnover, and Tommy Novak ripped a one-timer to close to within one (4-3) at 3:28 of the third.

This unit had been somewhat sleepy. But when the Penguins needed a jolt, the power play certainly delivered.

“We knew to keep working, see what happens,” Novak said. “Good things happened.”

— One of those came late, 6-on-5, the guts of that group on display from the Penguins top line. Prior to Sunday, that group had combined for 14 goals and 32 points in 11 games since Rakell returned from a broken hand.

Tic-tac-toe passing, skill, and Rakell buried one to send it to overtime.

“Everyone is doing whatever they can to help us win hockey games,” Rakell said. “It’s big for us. That’s what we need to keep doing.”

— The biggest, of course, is the captain, who very much loves playing here and torturing the Blue Jackets. In overtime, another demon the Penguins have had to conquer, he went five-hole and scored, continuing a masterful season.

The pass from Erik Karlsson was elite, as well, but let’s isolate on Sid for a second.

Crosby now has 24 goals in 41 games, on pace for 48. He has an active seven-game point streak, during which he has five goals and 12 points, and he’s been really cruel to the Blue Jackets of late.

An example: The Penguins have earned points in 18 of their last 19 against Columbus (14-1-4), while Crosby has been held off the scoresheet just three times during that stretch. Furthermore, Crosby has 15 goals and 34 points in those 19 games. In 48 career games against Columbus, Crosby has 24 goals and 69 points.

Fun stuff. But the story of this one, for the final time, isn’t about any of those individual moments or players.

(By the way, you could also add Yegor Chinakhov drawing a penalty to net the power play, Silovs tightening down after the Werenski goal or Ville Koivunen kickstarting things with his early marker to the pile.)

No, the strength of the Penguins in this one was all the various inputs, the team element, the contributions from up and down the lineup and also the belief they could pull off such a comeback.

In a weird way, it might’ve helped that they were on the other side of several of these things in December, blowing four- and three-goal leads against the Sharks and Mammoth, plus several smaller third-period foibles.

“Obviously you don’t want to be on the other side, which we have been,” Muse said. “But I think it’s more about building off these previous games.”

Fair enough.

It also doesn’t matter. The Penguins post-Christmas have been fun to watch, a throwback to how this looked earlier in the year. They’ve received secondary scoring. Their defensemen have been active. Goaltending has been mostly solid. It was a defensive clinic Saturday in Detroit.

They’ve also shown resilience, whether that was a penalty fest back home or wiping out a three-goal deficit on the road against a team that had been playing well — Columbus had won four of five and ended Buffalo’s 10-game winning streak prior to Sunday.

Credit to Muse for creating that belief and his players for adjusting — from game to game and also within games, to keep firing pucks on net and believe something like this could be possible.

Says a lot about them and what might be possible this season.

“There are going to be some times — maybe it’s bad bounces or there’s going to be some times where maybe you don’t like a period that you have — you have to stay with it,” Muse said. “You can’t just get away from what works. You have to get back to what works. I thought that’s what we did.”

It was over when ...

Crosby scored at 2:22 of the extra session, pulling in a pass from Karlsson and skating in to beat Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves on a breakaway.

“It was a great pass, great poise,” Crosby said. “To have that poise at that point in the game at the blue line, it’s not easy. Put it right on my stick. It was a big play for him. Obviously a lot of big plays that led up to it.”

Stat of the game

24: Wins for the Penguins in their past 32 games (24-3-5) against Columbus dating back to Feb. 3, 2017.

Around the boards

— After a rough game for Rutger McGroarty in Detroit and limited ice time in the penalty fest on New Year’s Day, Muse made him a healthy scratch, opening the door for Koivunen. Kevin Hayes and Connor Clifton were the Penguins’ other two scratches.

— When Chinakhov scored Saturday, it gave the Penguins 24 unique goal scorers this season. Only the Vancouver Canucks (25) have had more.

— The Penguins have scored three or more goals in 24 of their last 30 games against Columbus, including four or more in 19 of those.

— The Penguins have 51 points at the midpoint, their most at this juncture since 2021-22 (57).

— Pittsburgh is 19-7-6 in games this season when Blake Lizotte dressed.

Up next

The Penguins are off Monday. They return to practice on Tuesday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

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