Oilers, Tristan Jarry send Penguins to 6th straight loss; Sidney Crosby moves 1 point from record

On one end of the ice of PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday stood new Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner in his old Edmonton Oilers mask.

At the other end stood new Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry in his old Pittsburgh Penguins mask.

In the great expanse between them was Sidney Crosby, trying to become the Penguins’ all-time leader in scoring as the incumbent claimant of that mark, Mario Lemieux, observed as a spectator.

And Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl was chasing his own milestone as he entered the day with 999 career points (while his always breathtaking teammate, Connor McDavid, patrolled the rink).

Yet, even with all those remarkable circumstances, it might have been the most boring game the Penguins have participated in quite some time.

But the end result was the same as the Penguins lost 6-4, extending a season-worst losing streak to six games (0-2-4).

Unlike many of their previous losses, the Penguins didn’t have a series of unfortunate misadventures that led to defeat. They simply just got beat.

Over the past week, the Penguins had been plagued by a series of blunders that have led to humiliating and bewildering losses, including some that saw them give up multiple-goal leads to the opponent in the third period.

Skinner, acquired in a trade from the Oilers on Friday, unofficially stopped 17 of 22 shots in his Penguins debut. His record fell to 11-9-4.

Jarry, who went to Edmonton in the deal, made 27 saves on of 31 shots against his former club, as his mark improved to 11-3-1.

Crosby recorded an assist, his 1,722nd point, one short of Lemieux’s record.

After a would-be power-play goal by Penguins forward Justin Brazeau 7 minutes, 51 seconds into regulation was erased by the Oilers, who issued a successful coach’s challenge on the grounds of the sequence being offside, the Oilers scored a pair of hiccup-quick goals in a legal fashion over a 14-second span during extended power-play time.

Forward Zach Hyman’s eighth goal came at the 11:38 mark of the first period during a five-on-three power-play sequence. McDavid and Draisaitl had assists as the latter recorded his 1,000th point and was surrounded by teammates rushing off the bench to celebrate.

McDavid followed that up by scoring his team-leading 19th goal at the 11:52 mark during a five-on-four power-play scenario.

Penguins forward Tommy Novak found his sixth goal late in the opening frame at the 19:15 mark, burying a rebound off a defensive zone turnover.

The Oilers struck again at 4:35 of the second period via rookie forward Matt Savoie’s seventh goal off a bad-angle shot from the Penguins’ left circle.

Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson collected his third goal during a power-play sequence at 6:24 of the second frame.

Accepting the puck to the left of the cage, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell slid a pass through the crease to the lower rim of the right circle for Crosby. Considering his options for a moment, Crosby offloaded the puck to the high slot, where Karlsson cranked a one-timer by Jarry’s glove. Mantha (6-foot-5, 240 pounds) supplied an effective screen on the sequence. Crosby and Rakell registered assists.

The Oilers were not deterred and converted on another power-play opportunity at 9:34 of the second as defenseman Evan Bouchard blasted a shot from the high slot for his sixth goal.

Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin put his team up by a field goal with his ninth goal 9:47 into the third period.

With Skinner pulled for an extra attacker, Penguins forward Bryan Rust’s 12th goal came at 16:51 of the final frame.

McDavid secured victory with an empty-net goal at 18:41 of the third. Penguins forward Danton Heinen capped the scoring with his first goal at the 19:45 mark.

Note: Penguins rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany made his season debut at the NHL level, opening the contest on the third pairing.