Penguins start fast, end 7-game skid against Oilers

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson’s voice dropped a handful of octaves when the question was posed.

How unique of a challenge are the Edmonton Oilers strictly because of the combined presence of superstar forwards Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid?

“Oh very,” a sullen Pettersson said in Cranberry on Wednesday. “You’ve got to keep an eye out when they’re out there. The last few times we’ve played them, we’ve given them a little bit too much room so they can ramp up their speed. That’s the whole premise of their game.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge.”

The Penguins were up for that challenge Thursday as they claimed a wild 5-3 victory over Edmonton. With the win, the Penguins snapped a hideous seven-game losing streak to the powerful Oilers (0-7-0) dating to Dec. 1, 2021.

This triumph was accomplished without the services of All-Star forward Evgeni Malkin who missed his second consecutive game due to an undisclosed injury. Officially labeled as “day to day,” Malkin underwent a rigorous workout during an optional morning skate in Cranberry.

Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic got a pretty good workout in the victory as he made a season-high 40 saves on 43 shots and boosted his record to 7-6-4.

He was particularly busy in the third period when he turned away all 16 pucks the Oilers put on net and helped the Penguins protect a two-goal lead.

Approximately 48 hours earlier, the Penguins yielded a two-goal lead in the third period in a clumsy 4-3 home shootout loss with Tristan Jarry in goal.

“We just, I think, kept playing and played to win,” Nedeljkovic said. “We weren’t trying to just sit back and accept the rush, trying to play defense and trying to clog up the middle or anything like that. We weren’t trying to shut it down. We were just trying to play our game and play on top of them. In doing that, it did the same thing — it shut them down.”

The Penguins had not beaten the Oilers in more than half a decade. Their last win against this outfit was a 5-2 road victory on Dec. 20, 2019.

But snuffing out a unique skid of futility against one team wasn’t of particular importance to the home team.

Just getting a victory was the focus.

“It was another game we needed to win because the standings (are) so tight,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. “But we don’t look at what happened in the past. We look at the challenge that we have in front of us and obviously, they’re a pretty tough challenge.”

Penguins forward Rickard Rakell opened the scoring with his team-leading 21st goal of the season 3:19 into regulation.

Taking a pass on Edmonton’s left half-wall, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby spun off a check from Oilers forward Mattias Ekholm and slipped a backhand feed to the center point for Pettersson, who golfed a one-timer on net. Despite a redirection by Penguins forward Bryan Rust, goaltender Stuart Skinner made the initial save but allowed a rebound to squeak loose. From the left of the crease, Rakell was able to bang a forehand shot under Skinner’s left leg. Rust and Pettersson had assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Rickard Rakell with 16:41 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Bryan Rust and Marcus Pettersson.

Pittsburgh: 1
Edmonton: 0#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/eI7LLW2LSI

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

Rust’s 16th goal came at 7:22 of the first period.

Settling a loose puck in Edmonton’s left circle, Crosby offloaded it to the near half-wall to Pettersson. Hesitating for a moment, Pettersson dished the pass to the top of the left circle for Rust, who pumped a wrister off the near post and past Skinner’s blocker. Rakell supplied a stout screen on the sequence. Pettersson and Crosby claimed assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Bryan Rust with 12:38 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Marcus Pettersson and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh: 2
Edmonton: 0#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/XZuDWE3sID

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

The Penguins went up by a field goal via forward Kevin Hayes’ sixth goal at 9:46 of the opening frame.

Outbattling Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak and forward Adam Henrique for a puck on Edmonton’s end boards, Penguins forward Drew O’Connor slipped a pass to the front of the crease for Hayes, who snapped a wrister by Skinner’s right leg. O’Connor and former Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi generated assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Kevin Hayes with 10:14 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Drew O'Connor and Jesse Puljujarvi.

Pittsburgh: 3
Edmonton: 0#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/P8Lg0inaeN

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

Draisaitl got the visitors on the scoreboard with his league-best 30th goal at 12:33 of the first period.

Following an offensive zone turnover by Crosby on the left half-wall, McDavid settled a bouncing puck at the blue line and fed it to Oilers forward Zach Hyman, who sprinted up the right wing into the offensive zone. Darting past Pettersson, Hyman attacked the net on a mini-breakaway but was denied on a daring pokecheck by Nedeljkovic. The puck bounced free in the slot where McDavid overskated it and whiffed on a forehand shot attempt, but Draisaitl followed up on the sequence by tapping a backhander past a breakdancing Nedeljkovic. Assists went to Hyman and McDavid.

Edmonton goal!

Scored by Leon Draisaitl with 07:27 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid.

Pittsburgh: 3
Edmonton: 1#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/MprKwQgqMv

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

O’Connor got in on the act with his sixth goal only 68 seconds later.

Surging past Oilers defenseman Joshua Brown, Rust chased down a puck dumped into Edmonton’s left corner and then circumnavigated his way behind the cage to the right circle. Waiting for a line change, Rust backhanded a puck to the opposite circle for an on-rushing O’Connor, who lasered a wrister to the near side by Skinner’s blocker. Rust and Crosby collected assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Drew O'Connor with 06:19 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Bryan Rust and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh: 4
Edmonton: 1#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/AHDHO9LfXc

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

Crosby’s 12th goal came 5:42 into the second period during a power-play sequence.

Accepting a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson chucked a wrister that was wide on the near side. The puck clunked off the end boards and skidded to the left circle. Penguins forward Michael Bunting jumped on the rebound and faked a one-timer before sending a clever pass to the far side of the crease for Crosby, who stopped the puck and then lifted a forehand shot by a scrambling Skinner’s glove. Assists belonged to Bunting and Karlsson.

Power play goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Sidney Crosby with 14:18 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Michael Bunting and Erik Karlsson.

Pittsburgh: 5
Edmonton: 1#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/nDwyqDbdK2

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

Draisaitl scored again at 10:58 of the second frame.

Rakell tried to clear a puck from his own right corner but wound up backhanding the pass to the center point where Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm happily accepted the charity and then fed the puck to McDavid above the left circle. Surveying the scene a bit, McDavid passed to the right circle where Draisaitl dropped the hammer on a one-timer that beat Nedeljkovic’s glove on the near side. McDavid and Ekholm had assists.

Edmonton goal!

Scored by Leon Draisaitl with 09:02 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm.

Pittsburgh: 5
Edmonton: 2#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/Q4Cp7G3OxZ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ 11th goal came during a power-play scenario late in the second at the 19:15 mark.

From the left half-wall of the offensive zone, McDavid fended off pressure from Penguins forward Cody Glass and dished a pass to the slot for Nugent-Hopkins. Utilizing Karlsson as a screen, Nugent-Hopkins fired a wrister past Nedeljkovic’s blocker. McDavid and defenseman Evan Bouchard tallied assists.

Power play goal for Edmonton!

Scored by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 00:45 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard.

Pittsburgh: 5
Edmonton: 3#EDMvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/PGwegjVJLp

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 10, 2025

In the third period, the Penguins turned away salvo after salvo offered by the dangerous Oilers. That included a successful penalty kill opportunity after Bunting took a retaliatory roughing penalty at the 11:04 mark.

The Oilers had three shots on four attempts during that ensuing two minutes.

“Sacrificing our bodies,” Pettersson said of the Penguins’ resistance in the third period. “You see a lot of guys up front there just putting their body on the line. … They had a lot of shots on net. But, I think we did a pretty good job keeping them on the outside for the most part. I think when they penetrate and then kick outside, that’s when it gets tough.

“We did a good job closing when we could and played tight when we had to.”

And having a goaltender stop every puck he saw in the third period will aid that pursuit.

“He was huge,” Rust said of Nedeljkovic. “He made really big saves. He controlled his rebounds really well. That helps us when we don’t give them second, third opportunities. To have a performance like that just feeds throughout the lineup. And you saw we’re all there at the end, kind of just trying to battle our hearts out.”

The Penguins had quite a challenge on Thursday.

And they met it as they finally beat the Oilers.

“We haven’t really been happy with our play against them overall over the last few years here,” Pettersson said. “We’ve been giving them way too much respect, and I thought the first (period), we came out, played on our toes and really didn’t give them space.

“We out-skated them. Skated all over them. I thought we had some swagger there in the first and … we competed. … We competed our (butts) off tonight.”

Notes:

• The 43 shots the Oilers put on net were the second-most the Penguins have allowed this season. The 50 shots the Oilers put on net in a 4-0 home win on Oct. 25 remain the most the Penguins have allowed this season.

• The Penguins’ seven-game skid against the Oilers was their longest active losing streak to any one opponent. With Thursday’s win, a five-game skid (0-2-3) to the Ottawa Senators is now the Penguins’ longest such streak.

• Crosby (1,643) surpassed former Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche forward Joe Sakic (1,641) for ninth place on the NHL’s career scoring list.

• Pettersson (137 points) surpassed forward Stu Barnes (136) for 68th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Nedeljkovic (25-13-11) surpassed Sebastian Caron (24-47-12) and Al Smith (24-47-12) for 22nd place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list.

• Penguins forward Anthony Beauvillier drew a tripping penalty from Oilers forward Vasily Podokolzin at 5:01 of the second that led to Crosby’s power-play goal. That was the ninth penalty Beauvillier has drawn during five-on-five play this season.

Per Natural Stat Trick, only Bunting (12), Malkin (11) and Crosby (11) have drawn more penalties in five-on-five scenarios this season among teammates.

• Puljujarvi’s assist was his first point since scoring a goal in a 3-2 home overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 19.

• Before Friday, the Penguins did not have a lead of any type against the Oilers since Letang scored the opening goal in a 7-2 home loss on Feb. 23, 2023. The Penguins scored the first and last goals in that defeat.

• In 24 career games against the Oilers, Crosby has 25 points (six goals, 19 assists).

• O’Connor appeared in his 200th career game.

• In 16 career games against the Penguins, McDavid has 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists).

• In 18 career games against the Penguins, Draisaitl has 20 points (11 goals, nine assists).

• In nine career games against the Penguins, Bouchard has nine points (three goals, six assists).

• Penguins defensemen Ryan Graves and Ryan Shea were healthy scratches.