The Pittsburgh Penguins handed the Edmonton Oilers another home ice loss with a 5-2 win Friday night at Rogers Place.
The Oilers are 1-5-2 in their last eight home games.
“We’re trying to win every day,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said after the game. “Confidence is earned. When you don’t have confidence, you’ve got to go out there and earn it back.”
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
Chad Ruhwedel put the Penguins on the board eight minutes in when his point shot fluttered through Mike Smith. Five minutes later, Joseph Blandisi jumped out of the penalty box and took a breakaway pass from Zach Aston-Reese. He beat Smith with a backhand deke to make it 2-0 Penguins.
“I liked a lot of our game, honestly,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “I thought we played well. They’re a team that defends well and we were able to generate a couple chances.
“Two mistakes end up in the back of our net and we’re chasing the game. We’ve got to find a way to cut out those mistakes.”
LISTEN BELOW: Connor McDavid
Zack Kassian netted his 13th of the season in the second period when he tipped a Darnell Nurse point shot past Tristan Jarry.
“It’s something that you never really think of that would happen, and I’m glad I was able to start in one of the two cities where I basically grew up in, so it’s fun,” Jarry said of playing in front of the Rogers Place crowd.
Jared McCann stole the puck from Ethan Bear at the Penguins blue line and went in for another breakaway goal to make it 3-1 Pittsburgh. In the final minute of the period, Riley Sheahan sniped the Oilers first shorthanded goal of the season.
“It’s been a while since I got a breakaway,” McCann said. “I just tried to slow down a bit and I know I had a little bit of time and tried to pump fake he bit there.”
On the same Penguins power play, Kris Letang blasted a one-timer past Smith to make it 4-2 38 seconds into the third.
“That was huge,” Aston-Reese said. “Any time you give up a goal like that, under five minutes, especially on a power play, it can easily take the wind out of your sails.
“But credit to our power play to bounce back like that and get a huge goal like that, it just gave everyone on the bench a big boost.”
With 3:36 to go, McDavid poked a loose puck home, but the goal was waved off as McDavid was deemed guilty of goalie interference. Brandon Tanev added an empty netter for Pittsburgh.
“Any time you go on a little skid, there’s frustration that creeps into your game,” Smith said.
“It’s the way you handle it that makes you a better team. If you just let it boil over and continue to hurt the way you play, you’ll probably end up going the wrong way in the standings.”
LISTEN BELOW: Mike Smith
The Oilers are 1-5-1 in their seven and sit at 19-15-4 on the season. They’ll host Montreal on Saturday. Catch the game on 630 CHED with the Faceoff Show at 3:30 p.m. The game starts at 5 p.m.
–With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott and Scott Johnston