Evgeni Malkin Scores Lone Goal for Pittsburgh, Oilers Outplay the Penguins 3/3/2024

   Zach Hyman put the Oilers in front 1-0 at 5:53 of the first period when he scored on the rebound of Connor McDavid’s shot on a 2-on-1 with a backhanded shot, recording his 41st goal of the season. This goal marks goals scored in nine straight games at home to match what McDavid had done last year… one shy of the record, set by Wayne Gretzky in the 1981-82 season.

   Scoring his eighth goal of the season to make it a 2-0 game, Corey Perry tapped in a backdoor pass during a 3-on-1 early into the middle frame at 17:03 from Ryan McLeod. Zach Hyman pushed it 3-0 at 14:05 when he was fed by Leon Draisaitl, who won the puck back to Evan Bouchard and then skated to the right hash marks… Hyman nicked it over Alex Nedeljkovic’s right pad. Jansen Harkins had an opportunity to cut in the lead, however, he was unable to convert on his penalty shot… Ryan McLeod extended Edmonton’s lead to 4-0 with his 10th goal of the season when he banked in a shot from under the left circle off the helmet of Nedeljkovic. This was McLeod’s first goal since January 20th, 17 games. Only 23 seconds later at 1:13, Cody Ceci made it a 5-0 game after being given a pass from Warren Foegele from behind the net, then he shot from the right face-off dot far side.

   Connor McDavid scored his 23rd of the season to give the Oilers a six-nothing lead. He buried a rebound of a shot from Leon Draisaitl and shot into an empty net. At 7:37 of the final frame, Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins on the board to avoid being shutout. Malkin scored near the right post after the puck had gone over the net for a 6-1 final.

Sidney Crosby on the 6-1 loss against the Oilers: “I get that chance and then they score in that shift, they get some momentum, got a couple quick, and it was tough to get back at that point… We did some good things early on, and didn’t get that first one and weren’t able to get close early,” – “I think we had a tough loss and I don’t know if we did a good enough job of just moving by it. I think that you got to find a way even when it’s one like that to move by it, and we probably didn’t do a good enough job.”

Notes:

– Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, Zach Hyman scored twice, Ryan McLeod had a goal and an assist, and Leon Draisaitl recorded three assists.

   McDavid extended his home streak to 25 games with 14 goals and 45 assists… He joins Nathan MacKinnon, who has an active 29-game stretch. McDavid is the second player with a streak of at least 25 games this season. Hyman has 10 goals in his last eight games… Draisaitl has 10 points in the last six games (three goals, seven assists).

– Warren Foegele has 31 points, an NHL career-high this season (13 goals, 18 assists)

– Calvin Pickard made 22 saves for Edmonton, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves for Pittsburgh.