PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists to move into ninth place in NHL career scoring as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Thursday night.
The Penguins captain tied Hall of Famer Joe Sakic with 1,641 points with an assist on Bryan Rust’s first-period goal. Crosby then passed Sakic with an assist on Drew O’Connor’s sixth goal of the season later in the period, giving the Penguins a 4-1 advantage.
Rust also had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, which ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Oilers for the first time since Dec. 20, 2019. Alex Nedeljkovic made 40 saves for the Penguins and Rickard Rakell marked his team record. 21st goal as Pittsburgh won without injured center Evgeni Malkin.
McDavid finished with three assists. Leon Draisaitl scored twice to bring his season total to 31, the best total in the NHL, but the Penguins beat Stuart Skinner four times in the first 14 minutes. Skinner settled down to finish with 21 saves, but it wasn’t enough as the Penguins ended Edmonton’s four-game winning streak.
Oilers: Their attention to detail in the first period was shaky. Even though Skinner wasn’t at his best, the Penguins also had no trouble generating chances.
Penguins: Pittsburgh remains a work in progress at midseason, but has shown it can compete with the league’s best on any given night.
Crosby’s 12th goal at 5:42 of the second period gave the Penguins a 5-1 lead, welcome breathing room for a team that struggled to maintain a multi-goal lead.
80 – The number of points Crosby needs to tie Penguins icon Mario Lemieux for eighth (1,723) on the career list.
Edmonton finishes a four-game trip to Chicago on Saturday. The Penguins continue their five-game home series Saturday against Ottawa.
