EDMONTON — It was all hands on deck for the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
Zach Hyman scored a pair of goals and Leon Draisaitl had three assists as the Oilers waltzed past the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1 with 11 different players getting their names on the scoresheet.
“I thought we came to play. Four lines, 60 (minutes), (goalie Calvin Pickard) was outstanding when we needed him. It was a really good effort by us,” Draisaitl said. “You need those games every once in a while.”
Ryan McLeod and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist, and Corey Perry and Cody Ceci also scored for the Oilers (37-20-2) who have won four in a row and have gone 31-8-1 in their last 40 games.
“I thought our execution was really noticeable tonight. Making clean passes and making the right decisions at the right time. Everyone was contributing and hopefully we can build off of that,” said Oilers forward Warren Foegele, who had two assists.
“We are looking at the standings and we want to finish first in our division and as well for the West. Efforts like that will help us get there.”
Evgeni Malkin replied for the Penguins (27-24-8), who have lost three straight.
“It’s tough right now, it really stinks right now,” said Pens defenceman Marcus Pettersson. “It’s a really gut-wrenching feeling in here, but we’ve talked about it enough that we can’t really feel sorry for ourselves.
"We’re still in the hunt somehow and we have to look at it that way. We have 20-some games left and we’ll get back from this trip, see what we can do better and get back at it.”
Penguins veteran Sidney Crosby felt some of the blame came from allowing the Calgary Flames to come back from three goals down in a 4-3 loss on Saturday night.
“I think we had a tough loss (in Calgary), and I don't know if we did a good enough job of just moving by it,” he said. “I think that you've got to find a way even when it's one like that, to move by it. We probably didn't do a good enough job.”
Edmonton started the scoring with six minutes left in the opening period as McDavid elected to shoot on a two-on-one, but Pens goalie Alex Nedeljkovic kicked the rebound straight to Hyman, who shovelled home his team-leading 41st goal of the season. Hyman has now scored in nine straight home games.
With the assist, McDavid stretched his overall points streak to 11 games and extended his home-game point streak to 25 games, his personal-best streak.
The Oilers took a 2-0 lead three minutes into the middle frame as they broke out on a three-on-one shortly after a big save by Pickard in their own net, with McLeod making a nice pass through to Perry, who directed in his eighth of the season and fourth as an Oiler.
Edmonton struck again just three minutes later as a puck caromed right onto the stick of Hyman in front and he scored his 12th goal in his last nine games at home and 10th goal in his last eight overall.
Pittsburgh had a chance to get back in the game with three minutes to play in the second when Jansen Harkins was awarded a penalty shot after being hooked on a breakaway by Edmonton defender Brett Kulak. However, Harkins, who has yet to score this year, shot the puck wide of the net.
Edmonton kept pouring it on with 1:13 remaining in the second as McLeod scored from a bad angle, chipping a shot off of Nedeljkovic’s mask and in from near the goal line for his 10th.
Then, just 23 seconds later, Ceci was able to net his second of the season with a wrist shot to the far corner from the right faceoff dot. Foegele picked up his second assist of the game to give him a career high for points at 31.
The Oilers made it 6-0 six minutes into the third as a huge rebound from a Draisaitl shot came over to McDavid and he wired home his 23rd of the campaign.
The Penguins ended Pickard’s shutout bid with 7:37 to play in the third as a puck hit Ceci behind the net and bounced in front to Malkin at the side of the net to give him his 17th of the year.
NOTES
It was the first of two meetings between the two teams this season. They will play each other again next Sunday in Pittsburgh. … On the injury front, Pittsburgh was without the services of Matthew Nieto, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust, while Edmonton was missing Derek Ryan. … Coming into the contest, McDavid and Sidney Crosby had faced each other 11 times. In those games, McDavid amassed seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points while Crosby had only managed three goals and four assists. … McDavid is only the third player in NHL history to have 15 or more 10-game point streaks, tying Guy Lafleur with 15. Wayne Gretzky is tops with 31. … Draisaitl played in his 697th career game as an Oiler, passing Gretzky for 10th most in franchise history.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Return home to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Oilers: Visit the Boston Bruins on Tuesday to start a four-game road trip.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2024.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
