EDMONTON, Alberta – The sweetest sound the Penguins might hear on this long road trip is the buzzer that mercifully ended the second period Monday night.
The visitors were in control at Rogers Place when Bryan Rust scored two minutes into the period to make it 3-1. But after Jeff Petry was penalized for nudging Connor McDavid into the Pittsburgh net, briefly sending the superstar to the dressing room in some pain, the Edmonton Oilers roared back with four straight goals.
The Penguins appeared to be hoping to just make it out of that period when Leon Draisaitl danced around Brian Dumoulin and beat Tristan Jarry. They would finally be saved by the bell 23 seconds later, suddenly staring down a 5-3 deficit.
They were unable to recover in the third period and lost, 6-3, to the Oilers.
It was the second year in a row that Sidney Crosby and the Penguins lost to the Oilers here at Rogers Place after a decade of dominance here in Edmonton.
The collapse started soon after Petry went to the penalty box for interference after he sent McDavid sliding hard into the left post, a collision that dislodged the net. The former Hart Trophy winner, who hit his back on the post, stayed down in pain for about a minute before an athletic trainer helped him skate off the ice.
On the ensuing power play, Tyson Barrie scored on a crazy carom to get the Oilers back within a goal. They kept firing and eventually were able to get to Jarry.
Evander Kane tied it up with 4:51 left in the period. Edmonton’s forecheck flustered Brock McGinn into a giveaway down low and Draisaitl quickly hit Kane before the Penguins could scramble back into position. His shot sneaked through Jarry.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins capitalized on another Penguins breakdown inside the zone to give the Oilers the lead. Draisaitl’s goal made it three in 4:28 for the Oilers.
When the buzzer blared, the Oilers had out-shot the Penguins 26-4, in the second. Ten of those shots came from the slot, per Sportlogiq. They had twice as much offensive zone time. And they generated four scoring chances off the cycle.
The Penguins were wary of Edmonton’s transition offense entering the game. And McDavid and the other speedy Oilers forwards definitely put them on their heels at times. But the Oilers were also too much for them to handle below the dots.
The Penguins started this game strong, which was not the case in their previous three outings. They created a trio of quality looks on Campbell within the first two minutes and kept it going, outshooting the Oilers, 20-8, in the opening period.
The Oilers scored first when Zach Hyman slipped behind Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang for a breakaway. But they responded with two goals in 105 seconds. On the power play, Rickard Rakell launched a right-handed rocket past Campbell from atop the left circle. His next shift, he set up Crosby in spectacular fashion.
During that momentum-swinging sequence, Hyman got another breakaway and tried a similar move on Jarry, who wasn’t fooled that time around. The Penguins went the other way. Rakell fought off a Cody Ceci check in the left corner and flung a perfect backhand pass onto the blade of Crosby, alone on the doorstep.
Crosby’s goal, his fourth of the season, gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead. The captain has picked up at least one point in 19 of his last 24 games here in Canada.
However, the Oilers dominated the final 40 minutes to skate away with the win. Ryan McLeod put the game out of reach by scoring off the rush with 3:15 left.
ICE CHIPS
-- It was a rough night for the top defensive pair of Dumoulin and Letang, who had matching minus-3 ratings. They were on for three Oilers goals in the second.
-- Jason Zucker in the third period briefly left the game in pain but would return.
-- With his goal, Crosby tied Adam Oates on the NHL’s all-time points list at 18th overall with 1,420. Next in his sights is Bryan Trottier, who tallied 1,425 points.
-- Drake Caggiula, called up Sunday, made his Penguins debut Monday night. He got the nod over Sam Poulin, who is still waiting to play his first NHL game.
-- Jake Guentzel got in an on-ice workout for the second consecutive day. Coach Mike Sullivan has said the injured All-Star could rejoin the lineup on this trip.
-- Monday in Edmonton, Marcus Pettersson skated in his 300th career game.
STAT N’AT
3 – points in the second for Draisaitl, Edmonton’s best player during that period.
COMING UP
Pittsburgh’s season-long five-game road trip will resume Tuesday in Calgary. That game has a 9 p.m. EST start. The team will then get a day off in Vancouver.
