Penguins capitalize on fast start, hang on for victory against high-powered Oilers

PITTSBURGH — Evgeni Malkin’s absence might have tripped the Penguins up their last time out, but such a fate wasn’t in store for game No. 2 of the year without the future Hall of Famer.

Thanks to a sensational start, the Penguins were able to hang on for a 5-3 victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. It was a valiant comeback effort from Edmonton, as the Oilers at one juncture trialed by as many as four goals, but the Penguins shored up their defense enough in the frame to squeak out their first win in five games.

The offensive outbursts were early and often for the Penguins. Rickard Rakell scored his 21st goal of the season to get the Penguins on the board, and was followed not long after by Bryan Rust and then Kevin Hayes to give the hosts an early 3-0 cushion.

NHL goal-scoring leader Leon Draisaitl ensured the Oilers wouldn’t go away too easily, however, with his 30th goal of the season, and first of two of the night. Draisaitl’s second tally sandwiched a couple goals by the Penguins, first by Drew O’Connor to close out the first period and then Sidney Crosby on the power play early in the second frame.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins trimmed the Oilers’ deficit down to two goals with just 45 seconds to go in the second period, in turn setting the stage for what figured to be a captivating final 20 minutes of play. The end of regulation more than lived up to its billing, what with Michael Bunting receiving a roughing penalty that sent a raucous crowd into a frenzy and Edmonton spending three minutes with its goalie pulled.

But with Alex Nedeljkovic making a whopping 40 saves, the Penguins were able to hang on for a rare victory against the Oilers.

Crosby’s line carrying

As has been the case for much of the last month, the top line of Rakell, Rust and Crosby continues to carry play for the Penguins. As evidenced by the Penguins post-Christmas break struggles, it’s perhaps not the most sustainable of models, and especially so when Malkin is out like he was again on Thursday night.

But when the top line is clicking, it can quite nearly propel the Penguins to a win on its own. Of course, having the power play continue to fire on all cylinders doesn’t hurt, as the Penguins tallied their 11th goal on the man advantage courtesy of Crosby in the second period.

The Penguins did get some secondary scoring, with Hayes and O’Connor both chipping in goals from the third line in the first period. Make no mistake, though — without the top line’s contributions, the Penguins’ strong start would have been overwhelmed by the Oilers’ late-game push.

Pettersson picking it up

Sure, Marcus Pettersson tied his season-high with two points on Thursday night. The blue-liner did a solid job of getting pucks through all night, like he did on Rakell’s goal that opened up the evening’s scoring.

But perhaps more importantly, the defensive-minded Pettersson appears to be steadying his play following a shaky first half by his standards. Pettersson did an excellent job of slowing Connor McDavid in transition during a second-period breakaway, using his long reach to poke the puck out of the Oilers superstar’s control.

By no means has it been a perfect start to the season for Pettersson, who has a negative plus-minus for the first time in his NHL career. Pettersson is in a contract year, and could be as logical a trade candidate as any on the Penguins’ roster.

With a couple months still to go until the NHL trade deadline, Pettersson has started to more closely resemble the top-four defenseman he’s been the last few seasons for the Penguins. What that development means for his Pittsburgh future remains to be seen, but Pettersson playing better is a welcome development regardless for the club.

O’Connor coming along

When O’Connor was mired in a 32-game goal drought earlier this season, there were times when the 26-year-old looked to be struggling to regain his confidence. A two-goal effort against the Detroit Red Wings on New Year’s Eve got O’Connor off the schneid, and he put forth perhaps his most complete performance of the season on Thursday, or at least one of them.

The 26-year-old winger was flying around the ice early on, and demonstrated some slick offensive touch. Before O’Connor brilliantly set up Hayes on his goal, he made a strong play at the end boards to control the puck and then facilitated. It was evidence of the 6-foot-4, 209-pound O’Connor making good use of his frame, which hasn’t consistently been the case all season.

Then on his goal, O’Connor put his wheels to good use and found himself all alone in the slot before potting his sixth tally of the season. As he demonstrated last season with 16 goals and 17 assists, O’Connor has an offensive element to his game.

For as lackluster as his first half of the season was, O’Connor is more consistently putting forth solid efforts, and reaping the rewards on the scoresheet.

Ice chips

— With his three-point night, Rust became the ninth player in franchise history to have eight or more 30-point campaigns with the Penguins.

— With his three-point night, Crosby moved into ninth all time in NHL history in career points with 1,643. He slotted ahead of Joe Sakic, and now trails Mario Lemieux for eighth place.

— Thursday night’s contest was the 200th of O’Connor’s NHL career.

— Ryan Shea and Ryan Graves were the Penguins’ two other scratches.

— The Penguins’ penalty kill has now given up six goals in five games.

Coming up

The Penguins are slated to practice on Friday afternoon. Then, it’ll be a weekend back-to-back at PPG Paints Arena, starting with the Ottawa Senators on Saturday and then the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.