By: Anthony Sevilla, EBC Sports International, Canada Bureau
VANCOUVER, CANADA (Eagle News Service) — The two league leaders in points last season in the NHL went head-to-head on Wednesday night. The Edmonton Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid and Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby led the league in points with 100 and 89 respectively. In the three NHL matchups between the two stars, the Penguins were 3-0-0 against the Oilers even though Crosby had 0 points in all 3 contests while McDavid had 5.
A win for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the struggling Edmonton Oilers was exactly what the Penguins’ needed to get their road trip back on track, after opening their five-game road trip with two losses. In the 2nd period, the Pittsburgh Penguins opened the scoring when Patric Hornqvist deflected the power play of defenseman Kris Letang, giving Honqvist his fourth goal of the season. The Oilers answered back with a goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored his 100th career NHL goal.
The Edmonton Oilers were not done yet. They added another one, as Connor McDavid dangled through the Pens’ defense and passed it to Leon Draisaitl for the score making it 2-1 in favor of Edmonton.
Penguins returned the favor. Crosby ended his pointless streak against McDavid and the Oilers with an assist to Conor Sheary with less than a minute left in the 2nd period, tying the game up 2-2.
Then Penguins’ forward Evgeni Malkin helped Pittsburgh defeat the Oilers when he scored what would be the game winning goal after tucking in a wrist shot under Oilers’ goaltender Cam Talbot’s arm on the man-advantage power play with 7:37 remaining in the 3rd period.
Edmonton, unable to come back from behind, as they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins at home 3-2. Penguins’ goaltender Matt Murray made 35 saves which also included a huge save on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with only 13 seconds remaining in the game to close out the victory. Despite a performance from Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers continue to struggle early into the season with a 3-7-1 record with only 7 points and currently sits second last in the Western Conference.
Pittsburgh, however, following their win sit in third place in the Eastern Conference (8-5-1) with 17 points and only one point behind the New Jersey Devils and 4 points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for in the Eastern Conference.
The Pittsburgh Penguins continue their road trip in Calgary, as they take on the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday while the Edmonton Oilers will host the New Jersey Devils at home in Rogers Place on Friday night. (Eagle News Service)