October 24, 2022 by Ryan Lotsberg

The tenth iteration of the Sidney Crosby vs Connor McDavid matchup was every bit as entertaining as everyone expected it to be. McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers got the better of Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins for the fourth straight time on Monday night. The Oilers prevailed 6-3 in a back and forth affair at Rogers Place.

Zach Hyman opened the scoring for the Oilers, but they still came out of the gates slowly. Pittsburgh outshot Edmonton 18-9 in the first period and came out of it with a 2-1 lead.

The turning point in this one came after a scary moment for McDavid and all Oilers fans. McDavid crashed into the goal post after getting his skates tied up with Jeff Petry on a two-on-one. McDavid missed the resulting powerplay, and he returned after only missing a couple minutes of action. The Oilers outshot the Penguins 26-4 in the second period (!) and emerged with a 5-3 lead in the second intermission. The Oilers never looked back.

Call Outs:

Kailer Yamamoto absolutely whiffed on three separate scoring chances that were set up by the Oilers’ two superstars. McDavid gave Yamamoto a perfect pass from the right corner to the right faceoff circle, but Yamamoto couldn’t control it or get a shot. McDavid hit him again seconds before he crashed into the goal post. The pass went to Yamamoto in the slot, and the puck bounced off his stick and wide of the net. Leon Draisaitl gave him another good pass in the high slot early in the third period, and he couldn’t corral it. If Yamamoto is going to stick in the top six, then he can’t consistently whiff on the chances that McDavid and Draisaitl give him. There was a small play in the first period where Yamamoto couldn’t get out of the offensive zone in time for McDavid to attack. McDavid had to wait at the blue line with the puck while Yamamoto was stuck in the zone. That’s a little play that forced the Oilers back to their own end.

I’ll give him credit for elevating his play after the McDavid injury scare. He had a shift where he got a quality chance and then fed Evander Kane for a chance in the same shift. Yamamoto needs to bring his best self more often though.

Jack Campbell got beat by a perfect shot by Rickard Rakell on the first Penguins goal, and he didn’t have a chance on the Crosby goal. However, the third goal by Bryan Rust was soft. Evan Bouchard broke up a three-on-two chance, and the puck bounced to Rust. Rust was able to bank it off Campbell’s back and into the net. There have been two goals this season where Campbell not being able to seal the post led to the goal: Elias Pettersson’s goal on opening night and the Rust goal tonight. I’ve noticed that he doesn’t tend to make a point of sealing up the post quickly while moving laterally like Mike Smith did. It’s a small trend to watch this season.

The team as a whole looked slow in the first half of the game, but they ramped up the speed in the second half. It’s been stated a million times already this season, but they have to start better. The other team thing that needs to improve is the penalty kill. The PK has allowed a goal in every game this season. The Oilers can’t come into games trailing 1-0 because we know the PK will allow a goal.

Lastly, Draisaitl was late getting to Crosby on the second Penguins goal. More on Draisaitl in a moment.

Standouts:

This was touted as McDavid vs Crosby, but it was Draisaitl that stole the show. The Deutshland Dangler recorded three points, including a dazzling goal where he walked by Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin and fired a backhand across his body and past Tristan Jarry with three seconds left in the second period. He made a nice pass from the corner to Kane for a goal, and he got an assist on Tyson Barrie’s powerplay goal.

Shout Outs:

There were three other multi-point scorers for the Oilers tonight. Kane had a goal and an assist, and he had a ridiculous eleven shot attempts in the second period. Hyman got the first goal of the game and added an assist. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also got a goal and an assist. Nugent-Hopkins’s goal was his third of the season already, which is great considering that he didn’t get his first goal of last season until his 14th game. It’s good to see the puck going in for him again.

Speaking of Oilers that scored for the third time this year tonight, Ryan McLeod notched a late tally. The sophomore accepted a drop pass from Derek Ryan and had all day to walk in and put a shot low to the blocker side over Jarry’s pad. McLeod has scored a goal in every other game this season. His emergence as a consistent goal scorer on the third line would be a boon for the Oilers.

Evan Bouchard was unbelieveable in this game. His passing ability was on full display. He rifled a pass to Hyman that sprung the winger on a breakaway, which allowed Hyman to open the scoring. Bouchard sent Hyman in on a partial breakaway later in the first period. He hit Warren Foegele on the left wing, and Foegele ripped a shot off the crossbar. Brett Kulak rushed the puck up the left and carried it around the net. He passed it to Bouchard at the right point, and Bouchard made a quick pass to Devin Shore streaking into the slot for a quality chance. That’s four quality chances that came directly from Bouchard’s passes.

That’s not all he did. He broke up that three-on-two rush only to have Campbell allow the bank shot goal to Rust seconds later. He drew a slashing penalty in the third period. He engaged in a puck battle where he was able to hold the puck along the wall for almost a minute with the help of Foegele and Jesse Puljujarvi (who missed a quality scoring chance from about five feet) late in the game. 

The analytics even loved his night at five-on-five:

CF%: 77.14% (27-8)

SF%: 81.82% (18-4)

GF%: 66.67% (2-1)

SCF%: 86.67% (13-2)

This was a fantastic performance from Bouchard. He did a little bit of everything. He could turn into a top pairing defender this season with more performances like that.

Lastly, a nod to Jay Woodcroft. McDavid had to leave the game for a couple of minutes, and that forced Draisaitl to take a shift with Kane and Yamamoto. He just kept that line intact and put McDavid with Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins. The Draisaitl line scored goals at five-on-five in the second period, and the McDavid line scored a five-on-five goal as well.

There were three games where Crosby’s Penguins beat McDavid’s Oilers without Crosby recording a point. This was the first time the Oilers beat Crosby’s Penguins without a point from McDavid. Crosby recorded a goal, but McDavid was held off the scoresheet. It wasn’t exactly a showdown between Crosby and McDavid, but it was an excellent hockey game between two great teams.

The Oilers will get a second crack at the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, this time in St. Louis. This will be the second consecutive game where the Oilers will face the Blues after scoring six goals in the previous game. We’ll see if they can get one by Jordan Binnington this time or not.