Oilers Tie Game Late, Pens Lose 2-1 In Shootout
EDMONTON (KDKA/AP) -- Ales Hemsky scored the shootout winner as the Edmonton Oilers started off the season with a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night.
Rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the tying goal with less than five minutes left in regulation for the Oilers.
Pittsburgh squandered a golden opportunity when Ryan Smyth was given a 5-minute major for elbowing Chris Kunitz shortly after the tying goal.
The Penguins were unable to score on the power play in regulation and had 34 seconds of a 4-on-3 advantage to begin overtime.
James Neal rang a shot off the post behind Devan Dubnyk, but it stayed out.
Edmonton also hit a post late in the extra session, but the game required a shootout.
Jordan Eberle and Hemsky scored on Edmonton's first two attempts.
Kris Letang was denied by Dubnyk, but Neal was able to slip one under the pads to keep the Penguins alive.
Brent Johnson stopped Linus Omark, which set the stage for Steve Sullivan to prolong the shootout.
However, Sullivan could not beat Dubnyk and the Oilers claimed the extra point in the standings.
Letang got the Penguins on the board in the first period with a power play goal that just barely got behind Dubnyk. The goal was the fifth power play goal of the season for the Penguins.
The goal came on their first power play opportunity of the game, but they would fail to score on their final seven chances, which allowed Edmonton to hang around.
Pittsburgh's penalty kill was called upon four times in the first period and was equal to the task. The Penguins have yet to surrender a power play goal against over the first three games of the season.
While the did not get the win, the Penguins captured five of a possible six points on their three-game trip to western Canada.
Evgeni Malkin did not play against the Oilers and missed the final minutes against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Head coach Dan Bylsma said Malkin was dealing with a lower-body injury that is not related to the knee surgery which ended his season last year.
Bylsma said Malkin could be ready to go on Tuesday night when the Penguins host the Florida Panthers for their home opener.
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