Penguins Scoring Struggles Continue in Loss to Oilers

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to see their playoff chances slip away, but they continue to hold out hope. In the second half of a back-to-back, the road ahead would get tougher right away as they played host to the Edmonton Oilers.

Both teams were on the second half of back-to-backs, and the Penguins had Bryan Rust returning to the lineup, but the Oilers were heavy favorites.

First Period

It took no time for the Oilers to take full advantage of a demoralized Penguins team. Just past the opening minute of the contest, Kris Letang turned the puck over to Connor McDavid, who had no defenders around him. McDavid doesn’t miss often, and he put the Oilers up early.

The Oilers didn’t wait long to extend their lead when a shot from the blue line from Mattias Ekholm just beat Tristan Jarry clean. The tally was Ekholm’s first goal in 40 games.

With the Penguins down two early and the Oilers not the kind of team to allow a lead to disappear, the PPG Paints Arena crowd was noticeably dull.

The Penguins had nothing going for them throughout the entire first period, and they went to the locker room for the first intermission down 2-0.

Second Period

The Oilers continued to lay on the gas while the Penguins couldn’t help but continue shooting themselves in the foot. A power play opportunity opened up for the Penguins, but they let it slip away with a penalty of their own: too many men on the ice.

Another four-minute power play opportunity opened up for the Penguins but was immediately taken away when John Ludvig jumped in and mauled Warren Foegele. Ludvig’s action earned him 17 penalty minutes: two minutes for instigating, five for fighting, and a 10-minute misconduct. The Penguins did not score on their two-minute power play chance.

Tempers flared through the remainder of the period, but the entire second came and went with no goals to be spoken of.

Third Period

The Penguins entered the third period down but seemingly not totally out of the contest. They've had an ability to crawl back into games this season.

Aside from the two goals, Jarry had been sharp all game, and that continued with some early saves it the third period. The skaters in front of him just couldn't provide any offensive help.

The Oilers eventually broke through to take a 3-0 lead as McDavid factored in for his third point of the night.

Just as a penalty to Sidney Crosby came to an end, the Oilers made it a 4-0 deficit with just over four minutes to play.

The Penguins picked up their sixth loss in the last seven games and have been outscored 30-10 in that time.