Penguins overwhelmed by Oilers thanks to woeful second period

Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is steadily stoic when it comes to discussing matchups.

He treats the first game of the schedule with the same weight as the 82nd, at least publicly.

But Game 6 of the Penguins’ 2023-23 campaign did command a bit more gravity in Sullivan’s estimation.

That’s because there are woefully infrequent occasions when Sidney Crosby faces off against Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid, each a winner of MVP awards and scoring titles on multiple occasions.

“Without a doubt, these are two of the elite players of the game,” Sullivan said to media in Edmonton following a morning skate at Rogers Place on Monday. “And it’s a privilege to watch them up close like we have an opportunity to do. … When you have two athletes like these two guys playing against one another, it’s certainly a privilege for all of us that are hockey fans to watch these guys compete.

“They’re at the top of their game.”

The Penguins weren’t even at the base camp of their game on Monday as they were toppled in a come-from-ahead 6-3 loss to the explosive Oilers. It was the Penguins’ first regulation loss of the season (4-1-1).

An abysmal second period for the Penguins was largely the difference as the Oilers set a franchise record for most shots in a period with 26 while erupting for four goals. The Penguins matched the Oilers’ quartet of goals with a measly four shots in the middle frame and never rebounded.

Edmonton took the first lead 4 minutes, 36 seconds into the game. After Penguins forward Bryan Rust dumped the puck from the center red line into Edmonton’s end boards, Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard beat Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin to the puck along the left half wall and alertly fired a stretch pass to Oilers forward Zach Hyman in the neutral zone. Getting a step or two on Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Hyman attacked on a breakaway and deked to his backhand, lifting a shot past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker for his second goal of the season. Bouchard had the only assist.

A power-play score by forward Rickard Rakell, his third, tied the score, 1-1, at 10:44 of the first period. After gaining the offensive zone near center point, Penguins forward Jason Zucker veered to the right circle then offloaded the puck up the boards to forward Jeff Carter, who then almost immediately tapped it back to Zucker at the half wall. Surveying the offensive zone for a moment, Zucker snapped a cross-ice pass to Rakell above the left circle. Going from his backhand to his forehand, Rakell utilized Oilers defenseman Ryan Murray as a screen and launched a heavy wrister to the far side that beat goaltender Jack Campbell’s glove and then rung off the left post before going into the cage. Zucker and Carter claimed assists.

Crosby supplied the Penguins with their first lead 1:45 later. After stopping a shot by Bouchard, Jarry aggressively flung the puck up the left wing boards for Rakell near the far blue line. Pushing play up the boards, Rakell fended off former Penguins defenseman Cody Ceci, spun around in the left corner and located Crosby streaking into the right circle. Kneeling down to accept Rakell’s forehand pass, Crosby swiped a one-timer past Campbell’s glove on the near side for his fourth goal. Rakell and Jarry netted assists.

A bit of luck gave the Penguins a two-goal advantage exactly two minutes into the second period. After Malkin gained the offensive zone on the right wing, he fed a cross-ice pass to Rust. From the left circle, Rust forced a pass to the front of the crease for Zucker but had it blocked by Bouchard. Rust reclaimed the rebound and, from below the goal line, he lifted a backhander that bounced off of Campbell’s backside and into the cage. Rust was credited with his third goal off assists from Malkin and Zucker.

After Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry was called for interference for an entanglement that shook up McDavid, causing him to crash awkwardly into the Penguins’ cage, it became a 3-2 game at 4:03 of the second with a power-play score. From the right half wall, Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl dished a pass to center point for Oilers defenseman Tyson Barrie, who teed up a one-timer. The puck pinballed off the left skate of Penguins forward Brock McGinn (in the slot) then the right calf of defenseman Jan Rutta (to the right of the crease) before hitting twine for Barrie’s first goal of the season. Assists went to Draisaitl and forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Things were tied, 3-3, at 15:09 of the second. After a defensive zone turnover by McGinn, Draisaitl claimed the puck on the end boards and slid a backhand pass to the left circle for Oilers forward Evander Kane, who had an acre of ice and a calendar of time to pick his shot after Carter appeared to misdiagnose the sequence. With Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin scrambling to apply pressure, Kane went forehand to backhand and snapped a wrister past Jarry’s blocker on the near side for his second goal. Draisaitl had the only assist.

Nugent-Hopkins restored a lead for the Oilers at 18:28 of the second. From the left point of the offensive zone, Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak slid a pass to the left of the cage for Hyman, who attempted to spin towards the cage on his backhand and shoot but he ended up chopping the puck off of Jarry’s left leg. The rebound caromed off the left skate of a backchecking Malkin and deflected to the slot where Nugent-Hopkins cleaned up the garbage with a forehand shot for his third goal. Hyman and Kulak claimed assists.

Draisaitl gave his team a two-goal lead only 1:09 later with his third goal with a determined effort. After Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen failed to cleanly accept a pass at the center red line, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse settled the puck near his own blue line and transitioned the turnover into offense by feeding a pass to Draisaitl near the Penguins’ blue line. Off a give-and-go sequence with Kane, Draisaitl surged past Letang then twisted Domoulin into knots in the slot before lifting a sinister backhander past Jarry’s blocker. Kane and Nurse tallied assists.

The coup de grace came late in regulation when Oilers forward Ryan McLeod scored his third goal at 16:45 of the third period. Oilers forward Derek Ryan drove the puck up deep on the right wing against Penguins forward Drake Caggiula then left a drop pass to a trailing McLeod. With no shortage of shot options, McLeod charred Jarry’s blocker with a wrister to cap off the scoring. The only assist was registered by Ryan.

Jarry, under duress most of the contest, made 41 saves on 47 shots in his first loss of the season (4-1-0).

Notes:

• A day after being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey league, Caggiula made his Penguins debut. A free agent signing this past offseason, Caggiula had 7:28 of ice time on 12 shifts, one shot on one attempt and one blocked shot.

-Caggiula became the 30th player to wear No. 18 for the franchise. His predecessors:

George Konik, Wally Boyer, Lowell MacDonald, Ross Lonsberry, Kevin McClelland, Tom Roulston, Craig Simpson, Jimmy Mann, Mark Recchi, Richard Zemlak, Jeff Daniels, Ken Priestlay, Francois Leroux, Garry Valk, Patrick Lebeau, Ryan Savoia, Josef Beranek, Shean Donovan, Steve Webb, Eric Boguniecki, Dominic Moore, Adam Hall, Marian Hossa, Chris Conner, James Neal, Frank Corrado, Alex Galchenyuk, Dominik Simon, Sam Lafferty

• Penguins forward Jake Guentzel was scratched for the second consecutive game because of a suspected head injury. Rookie forward Sam Poulin and veteran defenseman Chad Ruhwedel were healthy scratches.

• Jarry’s assist was his first point of the season. He moved into a five-way tie for first place in scoring among goaltenders this season, joining Eric Comrie of the Buffalo Sabres, Pavel Francouz of the Colorado Avalanche, Whitehall native John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks and former Penguins prospect Filip Gustavsson, now of the Minnesota Wild.

• Jarry was assessed a holding the stick penalty against Kane at 9:17 of the second period. That was his 16th career penalty minute and allowed him to pass Michel Dion, Michel Plasse, Pat Riggin and Wendell Young (14 each) for 14th place on the franchise’s penalty minutes list among goaltenders.

-There was an odd sequence at 9:30 of the second period - 13 seconds after Jarry was penalized for holding Kane’s stick - when Jarry appeared to make intentional contact with Draisaitl while leaving the crease on a delayed penalty against the Oilers. After bumping into Draisaitl’s shoulder - and making little apparent effort to avoid him - Jarry then tripped him causing play to come to a halt. Somehow, Jarry did not incur a penalty for this sequence.

• The 47 shots Jarry faced were one short of his career-high. Jarry faced 48 shots from the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 3-2 road loss on Oct. 23, 2019.

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