Connor McDavid's 4-point night leads Oilers past Penguins

With a meeting of Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid providing combined star power worthy of Galileo’s gaze, Wednesday’s matchup of the Penguins and Edmonton Oilers was broadcast to a national audience on TNT.

Or, at least as large of a national audience that a contest beginning at 10:17 p.m. on the East Coast could realistically fetch.

For those who didn’t have to wake up to work on Thursday morning or are simply cursed with insomnia, they certainly got to see a generational talent lead his team to a victory.

McDavid recorded a goal and three assists for the Oilers in a 5-2 victory at Rogers Center in Edmonton, Alberta.

Meanwhile, Crosby was limited to a single assist and was a minus-4.

The victory was the Oilers’ first regulation win against the Penguins since a 3-1 road victory at the Mellon Arena on Jan. 10, 2006 during Crosby’s rookie season.

For McDavid, it was only his second victory in nine career games against the Penguins.

“It’s important,” McDavid said to media in Edmonton. “We’ve played Pittsburgh not a ton of times in my career. We haven’t found ways to get wins. We’ve had some good games. They’ve all been tight, (but) we haven’t found a way to get a (many wins). Definitely happy to get a win against those guys.”

The Penguins were arguably the better team through the first two periods, at least. During the first 40 minutes, they controlled shots, 26-13.

But the final 20 minutes were what decided this outcome as the Oilers scored the contest’s final three goals.

“We did a good job of controlling territory,” coach Mike Sullivan said. We were hanging onto pucks in the offensive zone. We wanted to try to limit their transition game. On virtually every goal that they scored, it was mental errors on our part. It kind of fed their transition game. They got a couple of two-on-one (rushes); they scored on every one of them. They are an opportunistic group. They don’t need a lot of chances, and they finished on the ones that we gave them.”

The Oilers struck first 6:52 into regulation. Lugging the puck up from his own zone, Oilers forward Zach Hyman gained the offensive zone on the left wing and cut across the slot. Gaining a step on pursuing Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, Hyman lifted a wrister — his team’s first shot of the game — to the far side and beat goaltender Tristan’s Jarry’s blocker for his 10th goal of the season. McDavid had the lone assist.

Penguins forward Jake Guentzel’s 10th goal tied the game at 14:52 of the first period.

After Crosby beat the Oilers’ other franchise forward, Leon Draisaitl, on a faceoff in Edmonton’s left circle, Penguins defenseman John Marino, an ex-Oilers prospect, corralled the puck at the left point. Surveying the zone for a moment, Marino slid a pass to the right circle, where Guentzel whacked a one-timer to the near side that glanced off of goaltender Mikko Koskinen’s glove and fluttered into the cage. Guentzel extended a scoring streak to 11 games while Marino and Crosby registered assists.

Hyman scored again late in the first period at the 19:00 mark.

With Letang pinching in deep on the right wing after a rebound, McDavid was able to create a two-on-one rush with Hyman against Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin. Gaining the offensive zone on the right wing, McDavid drew in Dumoulin and fed a pass to the left circle for Hyman, who chopped in an uncontested one-timer past Jarry’s right leg on the near side. The only assist went to McDavid.

Exactly two minutes of game time later, the Penguins tied the game again, 2-2, at 1:00 of the second period.

In the midst of a jumbled line change for each team, Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues gained the offensive blue line on the right wing. With Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese driving the crease, Rodrigues and linemate Teddy Blueger dished the puck back and forth a handful of times before Blueger snapped a wrister from the left circle past Koskinen’s blocker on the near side for his sixth goal. Rodrigues and Letang collected assists.

Edmonton reclaimed a lead 2:53 into the third period. Taking a pass at the left point, Oilers defenseman Tyson Barrie snapped off a wrister through a forest of bodies. Spinning away from Crosby above the crease, Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto deflected the puck down off the ice and past Jarry’s blocker on the near side for his fifth goal. Barrie and defenseman Kris Russell netted assists.

It became a two-goal game at 7:54 of the third period. Claiming a loose puck in his own zone, Draisaitl shoveled a backhand pass across the ice to McDavid on the left wing of his own zone. Gaining the offensive blue line, McDavid created a two-on-one with defenseman Evan Bouchard. With Dumoulin providing insufficient resistance, McDavid slipped a subtle pass to the right of the crease for Bouchard, who tapped in an easy forehand shot for his third goal. Assists went to McDavid and Draisaitl.

Hyman appeared to complete a hat trick at 11:25 of the third period, but the Penguins issued a coach’s challenge alleging the Oilers were offside. Upon review, the officials confirmed the challenge and wiped out the goal.

An empty net score by McDavid, his 15th, capped the scoring at 17:49 of the third. Forward Jesse Puljujarvi and Bouchard had assists.

Jarry, who allowed multiple goals for the first time in six games, made 17 saves on 21 shots as his record fell to 10-5-4.

As for the Penguins, they’ve now fallen in three consecutive games with another road game against the Vancouver Canucks looming on Saturday.

“The way we played the first two periods was really good,” Crosby said. “Try to find that for 60 minutes. I thought for the most part, our effort was pretty good, especially after the last game. We just have to find a way to execute and convert on some chances here. It’s hard to win games if you’re scoring one, two goals every night. We’ve got to find a way to put a few more in the back of the net.”