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 Phil Kessel's third-period power-play goal proved to be the decider,
as the Penguins beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Friday night at Rexall
Place.
At 9:45 of the third, just 15 seconds after Oilers goalie Anders
Nilsson took a tripping penalty, right winger Kessel snapped the
puck at goal; it deflected off the hand of Oilers defenseman Brandon
Davidson and fluttered under Nilsson's glove.
"I saw the release and thought it was going to go high and I kind of
froze on it because it went off the hand and knuckled its way in,"
said Nilsson. "He (Davidson) made a good effort trying to block it."
Oilers coach Todd McLellan was satisfied with his team's effort, but
not the result.
"I don't want us to accept losing, but the approach to the game, the
effort, the build throughout the night... the resiliency those were
all positives for us, but I don't want us to acknowledge that losing
is fine, because it isn't."
The Penguins came back after the Oilers took the lead early in the
second period. At the 45-second mark, Oilers defenseman Oskar
Klefbom ripped a slap shot that went through Pittsburgh goalie Jeff
Zatkoff, making just his second start of the season. The shot came
from just inside the blue line and Zatkoff wasn't screened. But
Zatkoff was strong the rest of the way, making a total of 27 saves.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Zatkoff got a scare
when the goal light went on and the crowd roared, thinking that
Oilers left winger Benoit Pouliot's bad-angle shot had crossed the
line. But the refs waved jt off and replay confirmed the puck never
went in.
"I knew it was underneath me, the guy threw it from the side, it hit
a shin pad and it kinda hit me down at the bottom of the pads," said
Zatkoff. "I knew it was underneath me, I didn't know where, but I
saw the ref right there and he wasn't pointing, so I just put my
hands behind and fortunately I think it ended up getting stuck under
my left pad which is outside, anyway."
At 9:06 of the second, rookie Daniel Sprong's wrist shot from the
slot tied the game.
"That's something I've been working on, coming off the cycle and
going straight to the net and finding that open space," said Sprong.
The Dutch right winger was set to be a healthy scratch for the third
straight game, but was inserted into the lineup just before face-off
to replace veteran winger Pascal Dupuis, who was taken to hospital.
In a release issued just before face-off, the team stated that
Dupuis experienced symptoms "that may or may not be related to his
blood clot history."
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Dupuis played in six games this season, scoring once. One year ago,
Dupuis was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs. He missed 66
games.
After the game, Penguins coach Mike Johnston had good news.
"He went for precautionary tests before the game and the tests came
back negative," said Johnston. "He'll be re-evaluated in Pittsburgh.
We want to make sure so he'll get checked out and won't play
tomorrow night (in Calgary)."
The Penguins believed they had opened the scoring on a first-period
power play, but it was negated after video review.
Center Sidney Crosby's ripped a one-time slap shot and the puck
trickled through the pads of Oilers goalie Anders Nilsson before
right winger Patric Hornqvist stabbed it into the open goal.
McLellan challenged the call, claiming that an offside call was
missed when Pittsburgh entered the zone. Replays showed Hornqvist
crossed the blue line inches ahead of the puck, and the goal was
wiped out.
NOTES: Oilers RW Jordan Eberle returned to the lineup Friday, his
first regular-season appearance in 2015-16; he had been out since
preseason with a shoulder injury. ... Oilers C Connor McDavid is out
indefinitely with a broken clavicle suffered in Tuesday's win over
Philadelphia. Also out were D Justin Schultz (back), LW Lauri
Korpikoski (head) and LW Rob Klinkhammer (leg). ... The Penguins RW
Bryan Rust is on injured reserve (undisclosed). ... The Oilers
called up RW Andrew Miller on Wednesday from the AHL's Bakersfield
Condors; LW Anton Slepyshev was sent down. ... The Oilers scratched
D Mark Fayne, D Andrew Ference, and LW Luke Gazdic. ... The Penguins
scratched D Adam Clendening.
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