By Canadian Press

Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman lead Oilers past Penguins 5-2

Dec 1, 2021 | 11:00 PM

EDMONTON — Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists and Zach Hyman had two goals as the Edmonton Oilers stole a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

Kailer Yamamoto and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers (16-5-0), who won their third game in a row and improved to 9-1-0 on home ice, despite getting outshot 34-22.

Jake Guentzel and Teddy Blueger responded for the Penguins (10-8-5), who have lost three straight.

Edmonton started the scoring seven minutes into the opening period as Hyman picked the top corner past Penguins starter Tristan Jarry.

The Oilers came into the game with an 8-0 record when recording the first goal.

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Pittsburgh tied the game back up with five minutes left in the first when Guentzel unleashed a one-timer that Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen couldn’t get across the crease to stop. The goal extended Guentzel’s point streak to 11 games.

McDavid elected to pass on a two-on-one, setting up Hyman’s second of the contest and 11th of the season a minute later as Edmonton retook the lead.

A minute into the second period, Blueger beat Koskinen high to the blocker side after taking a nice feed from Evan Rodrigues to tie the game 2-2 for Pittsburgh.

Edmonton made it 3-2 three minutes into the third as Yamamoto deftly deflected a long Tyson Barrie shot into the net.

McDavid earned his third assist of the game playing four-on-four eight minutes into the third as he threaded a pass through to Bouchard for an easy tap-in on another two-on-one opportunity.

The hats came raining down with nine minutes left in the third as it appeared Hyman had scored his first-ever hat trick, but a video review determined the play was offside.

Edmonton put the game away on a McDavid empty-netter.

The Oilers make a quick one-game trip to Seattle on Friday, while the Penguins head to Vancouver to face the Canucks on Saturday.

Notes: Pittsburgh came into the game holding a 19-game unbeaten streak against Edmonton, sporting a 15-0-4 record during that span… The Oilers entered the contest with the top power play in the NHL at 37.7, while the Penguins were the top penalty killers at 90.9… Absent from the Penguins lineup were Evgeni Malkin (knee) and Bryan Rust (lower body); while Edmonton was without the services of Mike Smith (lower body) and Devin Shore (lower body), as well as four starting defencemen in Darnell Nurse (broken finger), Slater Koekkoek (lower body), Duncan Keith (lower body) and Cody Ceci (COVID protocol). As a result, blueliner Markus Niemelainen was called up to make his NHL debut.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2021.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press