The biggest story going into the Tuesday matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers was the goaltending battle, which featured two netminders in Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner who were swapped in a trade between the teams on Friday.
And, unfortunately for the Penguins, Jarry and the Oilers got the better of them.
The Penguins fell to the Oilers, 6-4, on Tuesday to bank their sixth consecutive loss and bring their record to 14-9-9. Edmonton scored three times on the power play, Connor McDavid registered four points, and Jarry stopped 26 of 30 Penguins' shots to propel the team to the win.
Skinner allowed five goals on 22 shots, and he admitted the first part of the first period was a little weird for him.
"It was definitely different. Super weird, like, taking a nap and thinking that I'm playing the old team," Skinner said. "So, the first period, I feel like for the first five minutes I kind of had to settle my game in and calm my mind down. And as the game went on, I think I did a better and better job at that. Obviously not the way that I wanted to start. I think I definitely could have helped these guys out on a few goals."
Skinner may have had the opportunity to settle in a bit more naturally. But an early disallowed goal may have changed the entire complexion of the game.
A little more than six minutes into the game, Rickard Rakell drew a tripping penalty on Mattias Ekholm. The Penguins had a generally lackluster power play after that, but Ben Kindel came in on the rush within the last 20 seconds of the man advantage and found Justin Brazeau in the slot, who sniped it past Jarry for what would have been his ninth goal of the season.
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However, the Penguins were offside on the play, and the goal was called back. From there, they took a disastrous string of penalties that, ultimately, doomed them early on in the game.
About a minute after the expiration of Ekholm's penalty, Danton Heinen took an interference penalty, followed by a Bryan Rust hooking penalty then a Brett Kulak - playing in his first game with the Penguins as well - delay of game penalty that came just 18 seconds after the Rust penalty to give the Oilers an extended five-on-three.
Zach Hyman scored on the two-man advantage with assists from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who recorded his 1,000th career NHL point on the play. He became the first German-born player to ever reach the 1,000-point mark.
Then - still on the power play - McDavid skated through the neutral zone and through the entire Penguins' penalty-killing unit for a breakaway, and he buried it just 16 seconds after the first power play goal. Even though Tommy Novak responded with a late first-period goal - and the rest of the game was back-and-forth - the Penguins could never quite recover after those initial power play goals.
Skinner let in a leaky goal to Matt Savoie early in the second period, and the Penguins - once again - responded via a booming one-timer on the power play by Erik Karlsson to make it 3-2. Sidney Crosby registered the primary assist on the play, putting him just one point shy of tying Mario Lemieux for the Penguins' all-time lead in points. But Brazeau took another Penguins' penalty a few minutes later, and Evan Bouchard had a power play goal of his own from the slot to put Edmonton back up by two.
Vasily Podkolzin added a goal in the third period to make it 5-2, then Bryan Rust scored with the net empty with less than four minutes to go in regulation to make it 5-3. But McDavid got his second of the night on the empty net after that, and Heinen's goal with 14 seconds left on the clock was too little, too late.
"The season's always going to be a bit of a roller coaster, and obviously, right now, we're in a downswing," Rust said. "And I think we can't just go around here moping around and coming in every day with long faces. I think each day is a new day. We'll think about this one for the rest of the night, to learn our lessons, to move on.
"Obviously, we've had a few too many lessons to learn here recently, but we can't sit and sulk and dwell on it."
'We're Ripping Off The Band-Aid Right Away': Skinner, Jarry To Square Off Against Former Teams
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers completed a trade Friday that involved a goaltender swap - and they will face off against each other in their new uniforms Tuesday in Pittsburgh.
Here are some takeaways from this one:
- The story of this game was special teams from start to finish. And, unfortunately, the Penguins just didn't have an answer for Edmonton's lethal power play unit.
But they didn't do themselves any favors in the first period.
First, there was the inteference call on Heinen near the midway point of the first. The Penguins did a pretty good job killing off the first half of that penalty until Rust was called for hooking a minute and eight seconds later. Edmonton went to the five-on-three.
And - once again - the Penguins did pretty well for themselves. That is, until Kulak airmailed a clearing attempt into the stands, extending the Oilers' five-on-three.
That's when Hyman scored and gave Draisaitl point No. 1,000. Then, just 14 seconds later, McDavid walked the entire Penguins' penalty kill and went right in on Skinner, who never had a chance.
When things aren't going well for your team, you have to find a way to stay disciplined and stay out of the box, especially against a power play as lethal as Edmonton's. The call on Brazeau ahead of Bouchard's goal was a bit weak, but it was still costly.
The Penguins were a pretty decent five-on-five team in this game, but - in a rare instance - their special teams let them down big-time.
- I think it might be time to break up that top line.
They're getting caved in defensively on most nights and aren't generating enough on offense to make up for it. They look slow. Crosby is turning the puck over with high frequency, Rust is hard to watch in his own zone, and Rakell looks like the only player on the line interested in playing a full 200-foot game, even if he's still shaking off some rust.
Most first lines are outmatching them at five-on-five. They really need a new look, and - although I don't expect it to happen - I do think Crosby and Rust need to be split up. They're becoming a liability defensively together.
I don't love the idea of breaking up the second line - as I think that has, generally, been the Penguins' best line - but I'd give Brazeau some runway with Crosby and Rakell and let Rust slide down to the second line with Kindel and McGroarty. Just swap those guys for a few games and see if it works. Maybe McGroarty can see some minutes on the top line in place of Brazeau instead.
I really do think that Rakell and Crosby should be kept together regardless. Rakell not only has chemistry with Crosby, he also has a defensive conscience. I think either McGroarty or Brazeau could be a good complement there.
But, regardless, something needs to change at the top of the lineup. The Penguins are limited on center depth right now, so honestly, it wouldn't surprise me to see Rakell get some reps at center on the second line - even if I'm not sure that's the best way for the Penguins to go right now.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are mired in their worst stretch of the season, and it's up to Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, and Kris Letang to pull them out of it.
- Aside from the Savoie goal, not much of this can be pinned on Skinner tonight.
It's not ideal to greet your newly acquired goaltender - in his first game in your uniform which happens to be against his former team - by giving him an endless three-on-five to defend against in his first period as part of the team. The unfortunate thing is that Skinner made some saves in this game, but his start was tainted from the beginning because of that five-on-three.
It will be interesting to see who gets the net Thursday between Skinner and Arturs Silovs. I thought, for the most part, Skinner was fine on Tuesday, all things considered.
- This was a really, really rough night for Karlsson and, especially, Parker Wotherspoon.
Wotherspoon was on for all five of the Oilers' goals against aside from the empty-net goal, and Karlsson was on for five as well (including the empty-net goal). Wotherspoon was credited with two giveaways, and he also got undressed on McDavid's breakaway goal and didn't look particularly good on Podkolzin's goal.
Karlsson was one for five against - including the empty-net goal - and he looked lost in his own zone and in the neutral zone all night.
Look, every player is entitled to a bad game or two. Wotherspoon and Karlsson have been so, so good for the Penguins for most of the season, but like everyone else lately, their play has fallen off in a big way in recent games.
With Kulak in the mix, it will be interesting to see how Muse shuffles the defensive pairings. I'd keep Wotherspoon and Karlsson together for now, but things are starting to fall apart a bit.
- Speaking of Kulak, I thought he was - for the most part - fine in his Penguins' debut. Obviously, the delay of game penalty was very costly, but aside from that one huge blip on the radar, he was fine next to partner Jack St. Ivany, who was also playing in his first NHL game this season.
'It Just Made Sense For Us To Do It At This Time': Penguins' GM Kyle Dubas Gives Insight On Jarry Trade
It's safe to say that <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/breaking-penguins-deal-tristan-jarry-to-edmonton-oilers">the trade sending Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday</a> - which returned goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick - surprised a whole lot of people, fans and players alike.
I thought St. Ivany looked a bit rusty, which is to be expected in a player's first game of the season in mid-December. One thing I did like from him, though, is that he was engaged physically, and he was tied for the team lead in hits with four.
I'd give that pairing a few games runway. But I also think it wouldn't be the worst thing to try Kulak with Kris Letang, who has struggled this season. Ryan Shea's play has fallen off lately, and he's still, ideally, a third-pairing or seventh defenseman on a playoff team.
- This is six straight losses for the Penguins. They went 0-2-3 on their five-game homestand, and they are 0-2-4 without Evgeni Malkin in the lineup.
As I've said for much of the past week, the Penguins' leadership group just needs to find a way to lead this team out of the rut it's in. There's no other choice, no other way. Crosby needs to be better. Rust needs to be better. Karlsson needs to be better, and so does Letang. Most teams are only as good as their best players will take them, and right now, the Penguins aren't getting enough from their top players.
If they hope to salvage their season, it needs to start with them and with a reset on the road, beginning in Ottawa against the Senators on Thursday.
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Five days.
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