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The Pittsburgh Penguins finished first overall in the Metropolitan Division, earning 109 points. The Columbus Blue Jackets earned 93 points during the regular season, and entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference's first wild card, making the post-season for the first time since [[2009 Stanley Cup playoffs|2009]], and only the second time in the franchise's history.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/gameflash/2014/04/12/33216_recap.html |title=Johansen lifts Blue Jackets past Panthers, 3–2 |work=[[Sports Illustrated]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=April 12, 2014 |accessdate=April 15, 2014}}</ref> This is the first playoff meeting for these two teams. The Penguins won all five games in this year's regular season series.
The Blue Jackets recorded their first ever playoff victories in team history, but the Penguins ended up winning the series in six games. The first four games in the series featured comebacks, including 3-1 leads evaporating into 4-3 losses. In addition, the team who scored first in the first five games ended up losing. In Game 1, Pittsburgh scored three unanswered goals, including [[Brandon Sutter]] game winner 8:18 in the third period, to overcome a two-goal deficit to win, 4–3.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2013030131 | title=Penguins, down by two, rally to win Game 1 | work=NHL.com | date=April 17, 2014}}</ref> Columbus also overcame a two-goal deficit in Game 2, and [[Matt Calvert]] scored the game-winner 1:10 into double overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 4–3 victory.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2013030132 | title=Blue Jackets win in double OT to even series | work=NHL.com | date=April 20, 2014}}</ref> In Game 3, the Penguins scored three goals within a span of 2:13 in the third period for another 4–3 win.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2013030133 | title=Penguins rally past Blue Jackets, take series lead | work=NHL.com | date=April 21, 2014}}</ref> The Blue Jackets then overcame a three-goal deficit in Game 4 to record a fourth 4–3 contest in this series, with [[Brandon Dubinsky]] tying the game with 24 seconds left in regulation after Penguins goalie [[Marc-Andre Fleury]] mishandled the puck from behind his own net, and [[Nick Foligno]] scoring the game winner at 2:49 into overtime.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2013030134 | title=Foligno's OT goal caps Blue Jackets' comeback | work=NHL.com | date=April 24, 2014}}</ref> But Fleury rebounded in Game 5, making 23 saves out of 24 shots in Pittsburgh's 3–1 win.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2013030135 | title=Fleury makes 23 saves, Penguins win Game 5 | work=NHL.com | date=April 26, 2014}}</ref> In Game 6, [[Evgeni Malkin]]'s hat trick helped the Penguins build a 4–0 lead, but they had to withstand a late comeback attempt by the Blue Jackets to hold on to the 4–3 victory.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2013030134 | title=Penguins survive, advance to face Rangers or Flyers | work=NHL.com | date=April 28, 2014}}</ref>
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