Revisiting The Last Time The Penguins Beat The Oilers

Well, last night was another ugly loss, as the Penguins fell to the Oilers in Edmonton 4-0. Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner pitched his first shutout of the season against an uninspired Penguins team that was thoroughly outplayed in every facet of the game.

It was Pittsburgh’s seventh loss in a row against Edmonton, with the previous results going as follows:

4-0 loss (Oct. 25, 2024)
4-0 loss (March 10, 2024)
6-1 loss (March 3, 2024)
7-2 loss (March 23, 2023)
6-3 loss (Oct. 24, 2022)
5-1 loss (April 26, 2022)
5-2 loss (Dec. 1, 2021)

As you can see, not only has this team experienced a lengthy and painful losing streak to the Oilers, but none of the games have even been close when the final buzzer sounded.

So, after yet another embarrassing night against the guys up north, I figured I’d dive back into the history backs and pull up the last time the Penguins were victorious against the Oilers.

To do this, I’ll have to take you all the way back to the pre-Covid world, and I hope that gives you a sense of just how long ago this was. Let’s travel all the way back to December 20, 2019.

The Penguins were riding high, coming to Edmonton on a three-game winning streak and having gone 6-1 in their last seven, which was especially surprising considering the team was missing Sidney Crosby. The Oilers, on the other hand, were 1-4-1 in their last six games and looking to end a concerning skid.

Over 18,000 packed into Rogers Place to watch the stars take over the ice, but instead they were treated to a game that featured tons of depth scoring, and role players were the key in a Penguins victory.

Just under eight minutes in, defenseman Chad Ruhwedel opened the scoring for the Penguins, ripping one from the blue line that found a way past Mike Smith.

Not long after, the Penguins put together a quality penalty kill, and out of the box came Joseph Blandisi, receiving a beautiful stretch pass from Zach Aston-Reese and scoring on a breakaway, his first goal in over two months.

Though Edmonton picked up some momentum late in the period thanks to a Pittsburgh penalty, the Prnguins carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, largely controlling play at even strength.

The Oilers went out for the second period more refined, however. Leon Draisaitl clanked one off the post just seconds into the frame, and Edmonton had done a better job limiting Pittsburgh’s chances in the offensive zone.

That effort finally paid off for the Oilers around seven minutes in, when Zach Kassian deflected a shot from Darnell Nurse to put his team on the board. Pittsburgh would respond later in the period, thanks to a beautiful play by our old friend Jared McCann.

McCann went to play a pass that was heading for Oilers defenseman Ethan Bear, and as Bear was struggling with the puck, McCann poked it off his stick and found himself at the right place at the right time. He charged down the ice unimpeded and fooled Smith, getting him to move first before McCann potted one backhand.

That goal was McCann’s tenth of the year and restored the two goal lead for his Penguins, but the Oilers again found some surge late in the period.

With Pittsburgh on the power play, an Evgeni Malkin pass was picked off by ex-Penguin Josh Archibald, who raced up the ice and found himself on a 2-on-1 with fellow ex-Penguin Riley Sheahan.

Archibald sent it to Sheahan, who rushed up the ice and faked a pass before firing one at Tristan Jarry, sneaking it past him for a shorthanded goal. Ah yes, even before the pandemic the Penguins were having serious power play issues.

That power play for the Penguins carried over into the third period, and with 12 seconds left Kris Letang got a one-timer from Malkin past Smith, once again putting the Penguins up by two against Edmonton.

The Oilers would hit the post for the third time on the night just a few minutes later, and the teams occasionally traded chances as Pittsburgh tried to run out the clock.

Edmonton thought they had scored with 3:36 remaining in the third, but the goal was immediately waved off by the referees, who cited goaltender interference. Connor McDavid, who was pretty quiet all game, was in the blue paint battling with Jack Johnson, who admittedly had sort of cornered him between the defenseman and the goaltender.

However, McDavid was in the blue paint still and made contact with Jarry when the puck went in, and under a chorus of boos the referees confirmed the no-goal call.

About a minute and a half later, the speedy Brandon Tanev would pot the empty netter, giving the Penguins a 5-2 lead and in essence, the game.

Tristan Jarry recorded 26 saves on 28 shots and got the win, and both Marcus Pettersson and Zach Aston-Reese put up multi-point games. Here’s a look at both teams from that night.