PITTSBURGH — The Penguins used to be a team that could unleash a burst of offense that would knock teams out before they even started. These days, the Edmonton Oilers are a team that boasts such a dynamic offense.
Overnight, the Penguins attacked early and defended a big lead with an impressive combination of efficiency and tenacity, defeating Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the team this season, 5-3. With a comfortable victory, we turned back the clock. Oiler.
Superstars from both teams put on a show. In the end, it was the team’s overall game and Alex Nedeljkovic’s goaltending performance that made the difference for the Penguins.
“I thought we played really well as a five-man unit tonight,” Kris Letang said. “It was a perfect recipe. You’re playing a really good offensive team, you’re playing really good defensively, you still have five goals on the board. It’s just a game you can build on.”
Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, and McDavid answered with three helpers. Draisaitl scored two goals, giving him his 31st goal of the season.
Evgeni Malkin missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
Crosby, Brian Rust, Rickard Rakell, Kevin Hayes and Drew O’Connor scored for the Penguins. Nedeljkovic had one of his better performances this season, stopping 40 of 43 shots against the powerhouse Oilers.
The Penguins, who have had many slow starts this season, took a 3-0 lead on goals from Racquel, Rust and Hayes before 10 minutes had passed in the first half. Draisaitl’s goal to give life to the Oilers was met with an immediate response from O’Connor, giving the Penguins a 4-1 lead at the end of the first period.
For the rest of the night, the Penguins poised and gave the Oilers little opportunity to mount a dangerous transition attack.
With this win, the Penguins tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Next up is a very important weekend with home games against Ottawa on Saturday and Tampa Bay on Sunday.
“This is a big deal for us,” Rust said. “It gives us a lot of confidence that if we play the way we play, we can beat any team.”
Observations after 10 games
• If the Penguins and Oilers share the ice surface, it seems reasonable to start with Crosby and McDavid. They did not disappoint.
Crosby played one of the best two-way games of the season. The Oilers almost exclusively chose to play McDavid and Draisaitl together, and Crosby’s line was tasked with containing them while creating their own offense.
Consider it over. Crosby joked after the game that he was tired of trying to keep up with McDavid and Draisaitl, but make no mistake, he loves the challenge. Crosby was great all night, giving the Penguins a 5-1 lead with a power-play goal off a beautiful feed from Michael Bunting.
“I’m your father.” pic.twitter.com/j8mxXwQsbH
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 10, 2025
Crosby’s linemates weren’t too bad either. There aren’t enough words to describe the level of play Rust and Rakell play. This is quickly becoming one of the best lines of Crosby’s career.
Ricardo Raquel is a force to be reckoned with 💪 pic.twitter.com/zFuVzKnHWo
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 10, 2025
Brian Rust. You are a bold person.
Rusty becomes the ninth player in franchise history to have eight or more 30-point campaigns with the Penguins. pic.twitter.com/yRmPxlbTtC
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 10, 2025
• One of the things I’ve come to admire about McDavid is how hard he plays every night. Yes, he’s probably in a class with only Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr when it comes to pure physical talent in hockey history. He would be forgiven if he chose to take a night off from time to time. But he never does.
Plus, it turns out he especially enjoys playing against the Penguins. When McDavid was a kid, he had a poster of Crosby on his bedroom wall. It’s clear he’s up for these encounters.
The Penguins were smart for most of the game, choosing to dump the puck on many occasions and not inviting the Oilers into odd-man rushes. You have to play like that against McDavid, and so did the Penguins.
McDavid was at his best for most of the night, showing off his trademark blazing speed. He was in great shape, but I thought the Penguins played him as well as they could. They’re not a great defensive team, but he’s a great offensive player and he just happened to play on the same line as another great offensive player. As expected, the Penguins held the fort in style.
-The penguin’s blue line tells a story. In a good way.
That unit was a serious disaster for the first six weeks of the season, but not now. The duo of Erik Karlsson and Matt Grzelcyk has been operating at a high level in recent weeks. Of course Karlsson was the catalyst and he was great in this game as well.
The pairing of Letang and Marcus Pettersson enjoyed a very strong night. Both were plus-3 that night, and it may have been Pettersson’s best game of the season. Pettersson, who became an unrestricted free agent this summer, had a stifling game against a team that appeared to be interested in his services. In the third period, with Bunting in the penalty box and the Oilers down by two, the Penguins produced their best penalty kill of the season, with Pettersson’s fingerprints all over it.
Two nights ago, he struggled on the penalty kill against the Blue Jackets. Against the great Oilers, he rose to the occasion. He had five blocked shots and two assists.
If these two continue to play at this level, the Penguins may be on to something. By the way, the third pairing of Owen Pickering and PO Joseph was completely solid.
• Nedeljkovic was sharp all evening. After the game, I asked Sullivan if Nedeljkovic was considered for a larger percentage of playing time, especially considering how he played this night. Sullivan said, “Yes.”
Then he added:
“What we like about Ned is he’s consistent,” Sullivan said. “He competes hard. He fights hard. You know what you’re going to get from him night in and night out.”
When Sullivan said this, he was of course praising Nedeljkovic. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about Tristan Jarry. These are words Sullivan would never address another netman.
Don’t be surprised if Nedeljkovic ends up making more starts, perhaps most of them. It’s just a hunch.
• Sorry if this comment is simple, but the Penguins played really, really hard. They aren’t a better team than the Oilers, but they earned this win. They beat Edmonton by a wide margin.
They blocked 24 shots. There was tenacity in everything they did. It wasn’t a work of art, but the Penguins played a smart and tough game.
Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson fend off Connor McDavid behind the Penguins’ net. (Justin Bahr/Getty Images)
– Rust was called for interfering with McDavid in the second period. At the time, I agreed with the call, but thought McDavid would go down a little early.
As it turns out, he did. McDavid explained late in the game that he was called for a penalty for lunging at a player in a similar situation in a recent game, which caused him to go down easily. He didn’t want to get penalized again, so he basically took a defensive stance.
I have to say I’m grateful that McDavid taught Rust this. There’s something lasting about hockey players’ very polite communication.
-The Penguins continued to be furious about Bunting’s call in the third period. Bunting and Nurse got into an altercation, and only Bunting was given a penalty. This was a classic NHL call where the losing team gets the power play. We just talked about this after the Columbus game. In case of a tie, no penalty will be imposed.
Many within the Penguins organization remained outraged by the call after the game.
That said, it gave the Penguins their best penalty kill opportunity of the season. So all’s well that ends well.
• I really liked how the Penguins played in the third period. There was a sense of fear inside PPG Paints Arena late in the second period when Edmonton’s deficit went from 5-1 to 5-3.
It’s not the Penguins’ job to protect the lead. But that third period was one of the most important of the season for them. They were in control. I think that was a big step in the right direction.
• The Penguins have scored at least one point in 15 of their last 20 games. I can’t say they’re playing great hockey, but they’re steadily improving. Best of all, they’re playing a much smarter brand of hockey than they were earlier in the season.
• The Oilers have won seven straight against the Penguins, almost all of them outright dominant. This result was not expected. I think many people don’t.
Sullivan and his staff were under fire from fans in October, so I think they deserve some credit now for what we’re seeing. The staff clearly never “lost the room”.
This team is playing hard and frankly starting to play as a team. What a turnaround.
(Top photo of Sidney Crosby and Evan Bouchard: Justin Berl/Getty Images)
