Evgeni Malkin’s two goals weren’t enough to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins (13-8-2) over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. The Pens fell 3-2 in their third consecutive shootout.
Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring for the night and put the Oilers on the board 2:02 into the game. Taylor Hall assisted on the goal, setting Draisaitl up for a close-range shot that bulleted past Penguins netminder Jeff Zatkoff. This was only Zatkoff’s fifth start in more than 20 games.
Five minutes later, Andrej Sekera nailed a slap shot that ricocheted off of Oilers winger Lauri Korpikoski before slipping past Zatkoff. The goal came only five seconds into a tripping penalty on defenseman Rob Scuderi. The first period ended with an Oilers lead of 2-0, with an unmotivated and boring performance from the Penguins.
Malkin’s spectacular effort in the opening minutes of the second period electrified his teammates. His 10th goal of the season came on a highlight-reel worthy play where he stole the puck from the Oilers defenseman, back-checked his way through another, spun in a half-circle and back-handed a zinger past the Oilers goalie Anders Nilsson.
Geno couldn’t be held down and score again on the power play just three minutes later. His slap shot flew threw four Oilers players and over Nilsson’s shoulder. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang picked up assists on the goal. Malkin has scored four goals since last Wednesday’s game against St. Louis, a major asset to the struggling Penguins.
The Pens couldn’t capitalize on a five-on-three power play with 56 seconds remaining in the second period, and the teams entered the third with a 2-2 tie.
Letang’s tripping penalty against Benoit Pouliot in the third almost gave the Oilers the one-goal advantage with a penalty shot, but Zatkoff managed to stretch his left leg just enough to frustrated Pouliot and keep the score level. This was the first NHL penalty shot that Zatkoff has faced.
Minutes later, the third period would expire, sending the teams to overtime that would end with neither team scoring the golden goal.
Oilers centers Matt Hendricks and Jordan Eberle scored in the shootout, while Crosby and David Perron were denied by Nilsson.
The Pens, who are 1-1-2 in their last four games, are off until Tuesday, when they will head to San Jose to start off a four-game road trip.
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
