Observations from the Penguins’ 2-1 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

First things first, there was no update on Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist who left the game late in regulation. He retreated to the dressing room appearing to favor his left leg after recording his final shift with 2:32 left in regulation. There was no update on his status after the game.

As far as the game goes, the Penguins played great. They bombarded the Oilers net with 52 shots but could only put one behind goaltender Mike Smith.

Smith was tuned in and the Penguins just couldn’t figure him out.

A lot of times, a heavy shot total might reflect a bunch of low-calorie shots from the perimeter which don’t pose a ton of risk to the defending team. But the Penguins had a lot of really good looks at the net in this game but couldn’t get many of them behind Smith.

Plenty of those chances came on the power play as they generated 11 shots on five opportunities with the man advantage.

The Penguins are 2-3-1 over their past six games but have largely been happy with how they’ve played regardless of the result. Saturday’s game might be the ultimate representation of that dichotomy.

“We played a heck of a game out there,” said goaltender Matt Murray. “We should be proud of our effort. I think Smith stole one for them. He had an unbelievable game. If not for him, I think we deserved a little bit better.”

What happened

Following a scoreless first period, the Oilers struck at 7:21 of the second period. After Oilers forward Markus Granlund beat Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on a faceoff in the Oilers’ let circle, Edmonton defenseman Brian Benning claimed the puck and fed a forehand pass from behind his blue line to the center red line for forward Colby Cave. Pushing the puck up along the right wing, Cave surged past Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson, fended off Pettersson’s poke check in the right circle, cut across the front of the crease and tucked a forehand shot past the right skate of goaltender Matt Murray. It was Cave’s first goal of the season. Assists went to Benning and Granlund.

The special teams finally came through for the Penguins at 13:14 of the third period. It just happened to be their penalty killers who got on the scoreboard. Stealing a puck off Oilers superstar forward Connor McDavid, Penguins forward Bryan Rust pushed the puck up the right wing creating a three-on-two rush. From the right half wall, Rust fed a pass to defenseman Brian Dumoulin in the slot. Fending off passive pressure from Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and defenseman Oskar Klefbom, Dumoulin gripped and ripped a wrister past Smith for the short-handed score. It was Dumoulin’s first goal of the season. Rust had the only assist.

In overtime, after each team exchanged breathtaking chances, the NHL’s leading scorer secured victory for Edmonton. After Penguins defenseman Kris Letang fired a wrister from the left circle wide of the cage, the puck hit off the far corner boards and created its own outlet for Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl. Picking up the puck above his own right circle, Draisaitl chugged up the left wing, fended off a backcheck from Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk and lifted a forehand shot over the blocker of Murray. The goal was unassisted.

Statistically speaking

• The Penguins led in shots, 52-28.

• Penguins forwards Teddy Blueger and Evgeni Malkin each led the game with six shots.

• The only Penguins skaters who failed to record a shot on net were Nick Bjugstad and Pettersson.

• Nugent-Hopkins led the Oilers with five shots.

• Letang led the game with 28:55 of ice time on 29 shifts.

• Klefbom led the Oilers with 27:42 of ice time on 26 shifts.

• The Oilers had a 33-31 edge in faceoffs (52 percent).

• Cave was 10 for 16 (63 percent).

• Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was 12 for 23 (52 percent).

• Klefbom led the game with four blocked shots.

• Malkin led the Penguins with two blocked shots.

Historically speaking

• Smith’s 51 saves were the second-most in a regular season game by an opposing goaltender in the history of the Penguins. Canadiens goaltender Wayne Thomas holds the mark with 53 saves in a 5-4 win for Montreal at the Civic Arena, March 10, 1974. The Penguins lost despite only allowing 18 shots in that game. Poor Gary Inness.

• The Penguins’ last overtime loss to the Oilers was a 4-3 defeat at Rexall Place, Jan. 10, 2014. Nugent-Hopkins scored in overtime on goaltender Jeff Zatkoff.

• Dumoulin’s goal was the first short-handed score of his career.

• The Penguins have not lost in regulation to the Oilers for 18 consecutive games (14-0-4). The last time they lost such a game against the Oilers was a 3-1 defeat at the Mellon Arena on Jan. 10, 2006. You may recall that contest for the postgame evisceration by coach Michel Therrien:

• “Soff.”

Randomly speaking

• Playing for the first time since Oct. 5, Malkin logged 19:45 of ice time on 21 shifts. In addition to leading the team with six shots on nine attempts, he was also 7 for 14 (50 percent) in faceoffs.

• Penguins forward Nick Bjugstad’s wretched season continued as he failed to record a shot on net (on one attempt). He and Galchenyuk are the only forwards on the roster who have yet to score a goal this season. He did find a way to get on the scoreboard however by taking a hooking penalty against Granlund at 3:31 of the third period which led to Edmonton’s first power-play opportunity.

• The Penguins have half as many short-handed goals (three) as they do power-play goals (six) this season.

Publicly speaking

• Pettersson really put blame for the loss on himself based on how he defended Cave’s goal:

“The way I read it, I didn’t have a great gap from the beginning. I didn’t want him to cut to the middle. I wanted to keep him on that side. Then I did that too much. I didn’t skate enough and allowed him to go around me. It’s unfortunate. It’s my bad.

“You don’t have a lot of room for error. I made an error and it cost us a goal. That was the difference. I made an error and that cost us a goal. And that was the difference.”

• Rust was happy with how the team played:

“We definitely do have some really good things to build on. I think we had, what? (Fifty-two) shots or something like that, and a lot of really high-quality chances. We did a pretty good job of eliminating (Edmonton’s quality scoring chances). They have some pretty skilled guys who don’t need too many chances to score.”

• What’s wrong with the power play? Coach Mike Sullivan:

“The only thing that’s missing right now is finish. If we weren’t generating scoring chances or we didn’t have zone time or we didn’t have a high success rate on the zone entries or we were losing faceoffs or things of that sort, then we could look at the structure and the process and the execution. But as I’ve said to (media) after a handful of the last few games, we feel as though a lot of that has been there. We’re getting a net-front guy, we’re getting shots to the net, we’ve had a couple of rebound opportunities.

“It’s not like were generating opportunity. If we weren’t it would be a different narrative. As I’ve said to our players, we have to stay with it. We’ve got to hang in there. We can’t get discouraged. We’ve just got to get more determined.”

• Schultz suggested a few tweaks to the power play:

“We could have some more movement, open some things up. I thought we were a little static there I thought. But we had some chances. I thought a few of my shots from up top were there. We had some screens. It just wasn’t going in for us (today).”

• Sullivan was happy with Malkin’s return:

“He played well. You can obviously see the impact that he has on our team when he’s in our lineup. We’re certainly a much more difficult team to play against. We’re harder from a matchup standpoint. For his first game back, after missing a fair amount of time, he had a pretty good game.”

• Schultz on Malkin:

“A lot of offensive abilities and he makes a lot of plays. When you’re out there with him, you’ve always got to find a lane because you now he’s going to find you.”

• How difficult was it for Sullivan to scratch Dominik Kahun considering he had four points (two goals, two assists) in his past two games?

“Very. It was very difficult. We could have went a number of different directions with that decision. That’s the conversation I had with Dominik when I made that decision. That’s a tough decision. It’s a good challenge to have as a coaching staff because I think it’s an indication of the depth that we have. We have legitimate NHL players, we can only so many of them in the lineup.

“In Dominik’s case, I think the last handful of games have been his best. I just don’t want it to set him back. He’s got to make sure he keeps his confidence and stays ready. He can’t control the decisions the coaches make. All he can do is control how he reacts to it. That’s important from our standpoint. He’s a great pro and a good person. He understands it.”

• Sullivan doesn’t usually criticize players in public but he was pretty frank about Bjugstad’s play:

“Obviously, we think Nick is capable of playing better than he is at this point. To his defense, he hasn’t played a lot. He’s another guy that’s been out. When you jump back in the lineup, sometimes it takes a little bit of an adjustment process. But we do think he’s capable of more.”

Visually speaking

• Game summary.

• Event summary.

• Highlights:

Follow the Penguins all season long.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---