Sidney Crosby had a aim and two assists to maneuver into ninth on the NHL’s profession scoring checklist because the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Thursday evening.
“We weren’t prepared,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch mentioned after the sport. “They outworked us, outskated us. The eye to element wasn’t there.”
The Penguins captain tied Corridor of Famer Joe Sakic at 1,641 factors with an help on Bryan Rust’s first-period aim. Crosby then moved previous Sakic with an help on Drew O’Connor’s sixth aim of the season later within the interval because the Penguins raced to a 4-1 benefit.
Rust additionally had a aim and two assists for Pittsburgh, which snapped a three-game dropping streak by beating the Oilers for the primary time since Dec. 20, 2019. Alex Nedeljkovic made 40 stops for the Penguins and Rickard Rakell scored his team-high twenty first aim as Pittsburgh gained with out injured heart Evgeni Malkin.
McDavid completed with three assists. Leon Draisaitl scored twice to spice up his season whole to an NHL-best 31, however the Penguins beat Stuart Skinner 4 occasions within the first 14 minutes. Skinner settled down to complete with 21 saves, however it wasn’t sufficient because the Penguins ended Edmonton’s four-game successful streak.
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“I believed we got here out higher within the second (interval); took some floor on them,” Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm mentioned. “However, on the finish of the evening, we will’t dig ourselves that huge of a gap. It’s exhausting to climb out of it on this league and we actually needed to pay the value tonight.”
Takeaways
Oilers: Their consideration to element within the first interval was shaky. Whereas Skinner wasn’t at his greatest, the Penguins additionally had little bother producing possibilities.
Penguins: Pittsburgh stays a piece in progress at midseason however confirmed it will possibly compete with the league’s greatest on a given evening.
Key second
Crosby’s twelfth aim 5:42 into the second put the Penguins up 5-1, some welcome wiggle room for a crew that has struggled to carry multiple-goal leads.
Key stat
80 — The variety of factors Crosby must tie Penguins icon Mario Lemieux for eighth (1,723) on the profession checklist.
Up subsequent
Edmonton finishes a four-game journey at Chicago on Saturday. The Penguins proceed a five-game homestand on Saturday towards Ottawa.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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