Phil Kessel scored the shootout winner as the Pittsburgh Penguins came away with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
Nick Bonino and Evgeni Malkin scored in regulation for the Penguins (42-16-8), who have won four games in a row.
David Desharnais and Connor McDavid replied for the Oilers (35-23-9), who have lost two straight.
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Pittsburgh scored the game’s first goal six minutes into the opening period as Oilers goalie Cam Talbot was down on a rebound, allowing Scott Wilson to feed it in front and give Bonino an easy goal.
The Penguins went up 2-0 with two-and-a-half minutes to play in the second as a shot got behind Talbot and was rolling slowly into the net before McDavid tried to kick the puck to safety, only to have it hit Talbot’s pads and go in. Malkin was credited with the goal.
Edmonton cut into the lead five minutes into the second period as Desharnais poked a loose puck under Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for his first goal with the Oilers.
The Oilers tied the game 13 minutes into the second period as McDavid made no mistake on a rebound opportunity, scoring his 23rd goal of the season and 75th point.
Kessel had a breakaway late in the third, but was stopped by Talbot, who made his 60th start of the season.
Both teams had great chances in overtime, particularly on huge saves by Fleury on McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, but the game went to the shootout.
The Penguins are back at it on Saturday in Vancouver for the third game of a five-game road trip. The Oilers play the fourth game of an eight-game homestand on Sunday against Montreal.
Notes: It was the second and final meeting of the season between the two teams, with the Pens coming away with a 4-3 win in Pittsburgh in November in the first contest… Pittsburgh forward Tom Sestito served the first game of a four-game suspension for boarding Winnipeg defenceman Toby Enstrom… Penguins defenceman Justin Schultz, who spent part of four seasons with the Oilers, played his first game in Edmonton since being traded to Pittsburgh on Feb. 27, 2016… Returning to the Oilers lineup were forward Benoit Pouliot, who missed 10 games with an upper-body injury, and defenceman Kris Russell, who was absent the last two games.
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