PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby moved into ninth place on the NHL career scoring list with a goal and two assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Thursday night.
The Penguins captain tied Hall of Famer Joe Sakic's 1,641 points by assisting on Bryan Rust's first-period goal. Crosby then topped Sakic with an assist on Drew O'Connor's sixth goal of the season late in the game, giving the Penguins a 4-1 lead.
Rust also had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, which ended a three-game losing streak with a win over the Oilers for the first time since Dec. 20, 2019. Alex Nedeljkovic made 40 stops for the Penguins and Rickard Rakell scored a team-high 21st goal as Pittsburgh won without injured center Evgeni Malkin.
McDavid finished the game with three assists. Leon Draisaitl scored two goals to increase his season tally to an NHL-high 31, but the Penguins hit Stuart Skinner four times in the first 14 minutes. Skinner settled down and finished the game with 21 saves, but it wasn't enough as the Penguins ended Edmonton's four-game winning streak.
Oilers: Their attention to detail was shaky in the first period. While Skinner wasn't at his best, the Penguins also had little trouble creating chances.
Penguins: Pittsburgh is still a work in progress midway through the season, but has shown it can hang with the league's best on any given night.
Crosby's 12th goal 5:42 into the second period gave the Penguins a 5-1 lead, a welcome margin for a team that had difficulty maintaining a multi-goal lead.
80 – The number of points Crosby needs to tie Penguins icon Mario Lemieux for eighth place (1,723) on the career list.
Edmonton ends a four-game trip to Chicago on Saturday. The Penguins continue their five-game homestand against Ottawa on Saturday.
