Penguins come back to beat Blue Jackets without forward Jake Guentzel

The Penguins can’t replace Jake Guentzel for however long he is sidelined due to a presumed head injury.

And they certainly weren’t able to do that during a road contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

Literally.

With fourth-line center Teddy Blueger also absent due to an undisclosed malady that has hobbled him since Sept. 28 and the paltry sum of $83,158 of salary cap space (per Cap Friendly), the Penguins were unable to make any kind of corresponding transactions that would have allowed them to dress a traditional lineup of 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders in the Buckeye State’s capital.

Instead, they bucked convention by deploying an irregular group including 11 forwards and seven defensemen as veteran reserve blueliner Chad Ruhwedel appeared in his first contest of the season.

That motley crew claimed an impressive 6-3 comeback victory in the Penguins’ first meeting against a Metropolitan Division foe this season.

Guentzel was struck near the right ear by a puck during a 6-1 home win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. The All-Star’s absence was considerable given that he had scored the game-winning goal in all three of the Penguins’ victories this season prior to Saturday.

But not insurmountable.

“He’s a great player, does a lot of stuff for us,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said of his longtime linemate on Friday in Cranberry. “Not an easy guy to replace. When you get injuries, you have to make ways to make up for the guys that you lose and what they bring. We’ll try to do that collectively.”

The Blue Jackets collected the contest’s first goal 7:13 into regulation thanks to a turnover by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang.

Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist dumped the puck from the center red line to the net, where goaltender Tristan Jarry gloved it and then set it down for Letang. Swooping behind the cage, Letang forced a pass toward the left wing boards, but Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau, applying light pressure, ended up blocking the puck with his right shin, causing it to carom above the crease, where Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner settled it and ripped a wrister past the glove of a helpless Jarry for his first goal of the season. Gaudreau had the lone assist.

Another charitable moment by Letang led to the Blue Jackets’ second goal at 18:44 of the opening frame.

Working on a power-play opportunity, Letang fed an ill-conceived backhand pass off the right wing boards of the offensive zone that missed whatever target it was intended for and slid aimlessly to the neutral zone. Blue Jackets forward Jack Roslovic chased down the adrift puck, claiming it in the high slot of the Penguins’ zone, and attacked on a breakaway. Approaching the cage, Roslovovic snapped a wrister past Jarry’s glove for his first goal. There were no assists. It was the first short-handed score the Penguins had allowed through the first five games of…