PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Penguins

The Edmonton Oilers finish up a two-game Eastern Conference road trip and their regular-season road schedule on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet 360, East and Pacific or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game at PIT 04.26.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. PIT
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Connor McDavid
PRE-GAME RAW | Cody Ceci
RECENT VIDEOS
OILERS TODAY | Steel City Skate
RAW | Leon Draisaitl
RAW | Kris Russell
RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Penguins Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Master of the block
BLOG: Monday's Skate at PPG Arena
GENE'S BLOG: Connor vs Crosby
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Tuesday's game on Sportsnet 360, East & Pacific at 5:00 PM MT.
News and notes from Oilers practice at PPG Paint Arena on Monday, where defenceman Kris Russell spoke about his Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy nomination.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
PITTSBURGH, PA - Tuesday night's meeting between the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins and PPG Paints Arena will feature the ninth edition of the McDavid vs. Crosby series as the two generational talents go head-to-head with their formidable support staffs alongside them.
The Oilers captain remembers where he was when Crosby scored the Golden Goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, along with the few times he watched the Penguins play when he was two hours up Interstate 79 playing junior hockey with the Erie Otters -- including one unforgettable instance where he met his childhood idol in the dressing room after a game.
Back then, however, he was just a fan. Today he's a member of the opposition, looking to replicate that individual and club success in an Oilers uniform.
"It's fun to play against Sid and fun to play against their whole team," Connor McDavid said pre-game. "They're a core group of guys who've had so much success in this league and have done everything that we want to do."
"I always look forward to these matchups. It's fun to test yourself against someone like Sid."
The Oilers are one win away from clinching home-ice advantage in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Penguins are keen to preserve their one-point lead on the Washington Capitals for third place in the Metropolitan Division despite having one extra game played than their rivals.
Video: PRE-RAW | Connor McDavid 04.26.22
"I think we're all just looking to step up and get one of these games to lock up home ice," defenceman Cody Ceci said. "That's important for us, as we've been playing pretty well at home."
Both sides are coming off defeats, including the Oilers falling 5-2 in an afternoon clash in Columbus against the Blue Jackets where the inability to capitalize on their chances that day played its part in the loss.
"We obviously didn't like our game in Columbus," McDavid said. "I thought we generated enough chances to win but didn't find a way to bury them."
Edmonton returned the next day for practice in Pittsburgh with a workman-like attitude, taking the positives from the defeat and quickly during the page to Tuesday with their day-to-day approach championed by Head Coach Jay Woodcroft.
"We did a lot of good things in that game in Columbus, so we can't lose track of that," Woodcroft said. "The result was what it was, and we'd like to have a few moments back in the third period. We generated a lot and certainly could've been sharper finishing some of our chances, but we did a lot of good things.
"I think what we're looking to do is continue to grow our game, refine it and take a step by performing versus a really good Pittsburgh Penguins team. This is an excellent hockey team. You look at their lineup and they're deep at every position, and I'm sure they're looking at us in the same way."
CECI SAW POTENTIAL
The cold was never an issue for Ceci when he made his decision to sign a three-year contract in Edmonton during the offseason.
"It's definitely cold, but I grew up in Ottawa where it's still pretty cold," he said. "I think Edmonton's a little bit colder, but it hasn't really scared my family. They've come out and supported me and I've had friends come out."
When it came down to weighing his options and signing on the dotted line, the defender saw a potential Stanley Cup-winning lineup, some of the young star power in its ranks, and how he could help contribute to a championship side in Oil Country.
"The biggest factor was the talent on the team," he said. "They've got young guys between Connor and Leon, having a couple of the best players in their prime, and just the chance to play with them. You know if we do things right we have a chance to make the playoffs and hopefully go on a deep run."
The 28-year-old blueliner renews pleasantries with his former side for the first time as an Oiler having missed the earlier meeting this season at Rogers Place. Ceci played 53 games for the Penguins during the shortened 2020-21 campaign, recording four goals and 13 assists alongside Mike Matheson for the majority of the year.
Video: PRE-RAW | Cody Ceci 04.26.22
It was in Pittsburgh where before serving as a teammate to McDavid and Draisaitl, there were Crosby and Malkin. The former Penguin has had the opportunity to get an up-close and personal understanding over his career of the way two generational talents in Crosby and McDavid operate.
"He's still putting up numbers," Ceci said of Crosby. "It's his hockey sense, he's still fast, he takes care of himself, and he still plays the game at such a high level. I don't think he's lost a step at all.
"I got to see it first-hand last year. Any practice or any time we were on the ice, he was always working hard and pushing guys to work hard as well and stay after and work on things. That's definitely something I picked up from him.
"Just the way they both can take over a game and control the whole game as one player. It's always impressive when one guy can do that."
Ceci will be without his now-regular partner in Darnell Nurse, who'll miss a second consecutive game due to injury after not joining the Oilers on this two-game road trip that concludes their regular-season road schedule.
With much of the talk centered on McDavid during pre-game, the Oilers captain acknowledged how big of a loss it is not to have Ceci's partner and a leader on the back end in Nurse.
"He's such a big part of our team. On the back end there he plays so many minutes and so hard," he said. "He gets up and down the rink and he's such a force out there, so we definitely miss him when he's out of our lineup. We'll see him back soon."
A WELL-PERFORMING PAIR
The tandem of McDavid and Evander Kane on the top line has been a productive combination for the Oilers since the winger's arrival earlier this season.
In the eyes of the captain, it's gone better than he possibly could've imagined.
"Yeah, it has," he said. "On the ice, you talk about the numbers and the numbers are there. He's playing well scoring goals, but numbers aside, he's playing physical, playing the right way, defending well, and off the ice he's been a great teammate. I can't say enough good things."
Kane notched his 21st goal of the season on Sunday afternoon to go along with 17 assists almost exclusively produced on the wing of McDavid in 40 games as an Oiler. The 6-foot-2 power forward's qualities have meshed brilliantly with McDavid during his time in Oil Country, and Coach Woodcroft has seen it first-hand while commending his dedication to the defensive details.
"I think Connor has unbelievable speed through the middle of the rink. He transports the puck on the cycle, he cuts it back quickly, and I think Kane has a power-forward skillset and plays in straight lines," Woodcroft said. "He has really good habits as a hockey player, he goes hard to the net, he stops and doesn't go past scoring areas. I think he's physical. I think he gets Connor the puck, and I think with Evander he has very good habits as a hockey player not only going to the offensive zone but working his way back to his defensive zone as well.
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 04.26.22
Woodcroft continued: "I think the success he's had as a player is not by accident. He goes to areas where he knows the puck is going to go. He does work for other people. He understands the defensive side of the game, and his pairing with Connor I think just works. There's a chemistry there."
Over the last six weeks, Woodcroft has expanded the pair's area of influence into the penalty kill, where their success has benefitted from knowing just how power-play players operate and how to react shorthanded off their tendencies.
When it comes to making the decision to throw them out on the kill, Woodcroft said the less time thinking about McDavid's capabilities killing penalties, the better.
"I'm going to let you in on a little secret -- sometimes I just do it without talking about it," Woodcroft laughed. "Sometimes you're on the bench, and the less you have to think about stuff and just go out there and do it, he's such an intelligent person that he's in every penalty-kill meeting and he's paying attention.
"There are times when without pre-informing, you just do it on the bench and they've gone out and done a really good job."
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. PENGUINS
STREAM: 5:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet 360, East & Pacific
Oilers Team Scope
The Edmonton Oilers head into Pittsburgh with a chance to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and rebound from a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon.
Edmonton took the lead early at Nationwide Arena, with the red-hot Evander Kane netting his 21st goal of the season and his fifth in three games just 3:08 into the contest. Leon Draisaitl continued his power-play goal-scoring prowess in the second period, rifling a low shot from the right circle past Elvis Merzlikins for his 24th man-advantage goal of the campaign.
However, it would not be the Oilers day with the stellar play of Merzlikins stifling Edmonton's offence for the remainder of the contest and the Blue Jackets scoring four-straight goals in the final frame. The Latvian netminder turned away 33 of 35 shots, including many high-quality chances to pick up his 27th win of the year.
Connor McDavid continued to rack up assists and accolades, with his two dishes giving him a career-high 118 points on the year.
"We had a lot of chances. Credit to their goalie," forward Zach Hyman said. "As you get closer to the playoffs, those chances are harder to come by, so we've got to put it on ourselves to bear down, especially a team like that you could put them away early and take the life out of the game and shut it down. He made saves and we didn't capitalize."
Edmonton will play Pittsburgh for the second time this season after picking up a 5-2 win on Dec. 1 at Rogers Place. Hyman scored a pair of first-period goals, and McDavid had a four-point night to lead the Oil to victory. With a win on Tuesday, the Oilers would earn consecutive victories over the Penguins for the first time since a two-game stretch from Dec. 6, 2003, to Jan. 10, 2006.
Penguins Team Scope
The Penguins are coming off a 4-1 loss to state rivals the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday. Rookie winger Noah Cates had a three-point night, tipping a pair of near-identical goals past Pens starter Louis Domingue for his fourth and fifth tallies on the season.
Domingue was between the pipes in place of former Edmonton Oil Kings standout Tristan Jarry, who has been out of the lineup with a lower-body injury since April 14. The goaltender was in the middle of a stellar campaign, sporting a 34-18-6 record, .919 save percentage, and four shutouts.
On offence, the Pens are currently led by the usual suspects. Sidney Crosby is first on the team in assists and points with 53 and 84 respectively. The 34-year-old was the lone goal scorer in the 4-1 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday, notching his 31st goal on the powerplay with some quick hands at the side of the Flyers net.
Crosby is followed by Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang in the Penguins scoring hierarchy, with Guentzel sitting second on the team with 83 points and cracking the 40-goal plateau for the second time in his career.
Letang has shown no signs of aging at 35 years old, tying a career-high of 67 points and averaging 25:47 of ice time a game -- a mark which would also be a career-best. The trio has helped lead the Penguins to a 45-win, 101-point season that's good enough for third in the Metro Division.
Despite the continued success of the Crosby-led franchise, the Pens come in slumping as of late, sporting a 4-5-1 record in their last 10.
By The Numbers
The Oilers need just two points to reach 100 on the year, which would be the first time the team has achieved that mark since the 2016-17 season… Columbus scored a power-play goal on Sunday against the Oilers, snapping a seven-game streak where the Orange & Blue were a perfect 22-for-22 on the penalty kill… Edmonton has allowed at least 30 shots against in their last five games, but has won the third-most games in the league when allowing that total with 33 victories… Conor McDavid leads all NHL skaters with 44 multi-point games this year…
The Penguins rank second in the NHL in team save percentage, with their .914 mark trailing only the New York Rangers… Pittsburgh does most of their damage in the third period, scoring 101 goals in the final frame… Over the last 11 games, the Pens have only converted on 2 of their 24 powerplay opportunities… Pittsburgh has allowed the fewest powerplay goals against in the NHL, with only 29 tallies conceded while down a man… Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are currently tied with Jaromir Jagr for first all-time in Penguins game-winning goals with 78…
Injury Report
OILERS - Jesse Puljujarvi (illness) is day-to-day, Darnell Nurse (lower body) is day-to-day, Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR.
PENGUINS - Tristan Jarry (lower body) is day-to-day, Nathan Beaulieu (lower body) is on IR.
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com