An overtime goal by forward Jason Zucker gave the Penguins a 3-2 home win against the Columbus Blue Jackets that opened the preseason Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

Zucker’s goal came at 1 minute, 58 seconds of the overtime period. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Rickard Rakell recorded assists.

Former Penguins forward James Neal, attending the Blue Jackets’ training camp on a professional tryout contract, opened the scoring 3:25 into the second period. From behind the Penguins’ cage, Blue Jackets forward Jack Roslovic faked a run to the left side of the cage then slipped a clever backhand pass to the right of the crease for Neal who fired in an easy forehand shot past the left skate of unsuspecting goaltender Casey DeSmith. Roslovic had the only assist.

It took the Penguins little more than three minutes to tie the score at 6:27 of the second frame. Off a drop pass by forward Jonathan Gruden, defenseman Jon Lizotte, who is signed to an American Hockey League contract, chucked a wrister that slipped through the legs of goaltender Pavel Cajun. Gruden and forward Jamie Devane registered assists.

After DeSmith was replaced by Filip Lindberg, as designed, midway through the second, the Blue Jackets reclaimed a lead 2-1 at the 12:27 mark with another power-play score. Settling a loose puck at the right point of the offensive zone, Blue Jackets defenseman Nick Blankenburg spun off a check from Gruden, maneuvered to the slot and snapped off a wrister that squeaked through Lindberg and into the cage. Assists went to forwards Kirill Marchenko and Victor Rask.

The Penguins tied the score late at 19:05 of the third period after pulling Lindberg for an extra attacker. Controlling the puck behind the Blue Jackets’ net, forward Sam Poulin fed a pass to the right of the cage for forward Corey Andonovski who roofed a near-side wrister over goaltender Nolan Lalonde’s left shoulder. Poulin and forward Valtteri Puustinen claimed assists.

Zucker’s score came during a furious scramble during three-on-three play. After Pettersson was denied on a backhander near the crease, Zucker claimed the rebound on the left wing wall and curled around the offensive zone to the slot with the puck on his backhand. Fending off Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek, Zucker attacked the net, stumbled and jabbed a forehand shot through Lalonde’s legs.

Lindberg got the win after making 13 saves on 14 shots. DeSmith stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced.

The Penguins will face the Blue Jackets again Sunday night at Columbus’ Nationwide Arena in the second half of a rare set of split-squad games. The second contest is scheduled to start a little after 7 p.m. Each team is slated to dress a different lineup.

Note: Blue Jackets defenseman Ben Harpur was injured badly 1:56 into the third period during a fight with Devane. After absorbing a right punch from Devane, Harpur fell to the ice immediately. After being attended to by medical staffers from both teams, Harpur was able to skate to the dressing room, albeit with assistance from teammates. Harpur did not return to the game. Play was delayed a handful of minutes for Harpur’s wellbeing as well as to allow arena staffers to clean blood off the ice. The Blue Jackets did not provide a substantive update on Harpur’s status following the game. … Penguins forward Teddy Blueger and defenseman Chad Ruhwedel served as alternate captains.

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