Oilers Destroy Penguins 7-2, Give Pens Fourth Straight Loss

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-2 last night at PPG Paints Arena.

Forward Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists for the Oilers. It was the ninth time this season he had four or more points in a game this season. He scored his 46th goal of the season in his 59th game, which beats his career high from last season. Last season, he had 44 goals in 80 games. He now has the league lead in goals, assists, and points. Forward Leon Draisaitl got a goal and an assist and extended his goal streak to six games, which is also a career-high for him. Only McDavid has had a longer streak in the past 30 years. Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who improved to 32-19-8, have won their past two games, and are 2-0-3 in their past five games. Goaltender Stewart Skinner made 22 saves.

Defenseman Kris Letang scored two goals for the Penguins, who dropped to 27-21-9 and have lost their last four games. Goalie Tristan Jarry allowed six goals on 29 shots before getting pulled for Casey DeSmith. DeSmith made 14 saves for the Penguins in relief. Forward Sidney Crosby also had an assist and two shots on goal.

Just over a minute in, Letang scored on the first shot of the game to give the Penguins the 1-0 lead. At 13:18, McDavid tied the game on the power play to tie the game for the Oilers. At 17:49, Draisaitl gave the Oilers the 2-1 lead after beating Jarry with a power play goal.

Just over six minutes into the second period, forward Kailer Yamamoto tapped home a loose puck in the crease to give the Oilers the 3-1 lead. Just less than eight minutes into the period, forward Devin Shore gave the Oilers the 4-1 lead with a wrist shot. It was Shore’s first goal this season in his 32nd game and the 50th of his career. At 15:10, forward Warren Foegele extended the Oilers’ lead to 5-1 on a two-on-one. At 18:54, Nugent-Hopkins made it 6-1 with a wrist shot. It was Nugent-Hopkins’ 600th career NHL point in his 778th career NHL game.

Just over two minutes into the period, forward Evgeni Malkin thought he scored on the power play, but the goal would be deemed offside and disallowed. Just over eight minutes into the period, Jeff Carter thought he also scored, but it was deemed knocked in with a high stick and also disallowed. With over three minutes left in the third period, McDavid got a penalty shot after getting tripped by defenseman Brian Dumoulin. McDavid buried it to give the Oilers a 7-1 lead. With just less than two minutes remaining, Letang would score again on the power play to make it 7-2.

The Penguins would be outshot 44-24 in the game, including 14-3 in the first period. Dumoulin was a -3 in 15:43 of ice time in the game.

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