Oilers score 7, hand Penguins 4th straight loss

PITTSBURGH -- Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 7-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

McDavid set an NHL career high with his 46th goal in his 59th game after he had 44 in 80 games last season. He leads the League in goals, assists (63) and points (109).
Leon Draisaitl extended his goal streak to an NHL career-high six games and had an assist, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also had a goal and an assist for the for the Oilers (32-19-8), who have won their past two games and have a five-game point streak (2-0-3). Stuart Skinner made 22 saves.
"I heard someone say it's like living at the foot of Everest; you almost get numb to what you're seeing every day," Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said of McDavid. "I think it's important that everybody takes a step back and understands that we're seeing someone at the top of their craft in the prime of their career putting out there what he's putting out."

Kris Letang scored twice for the Penguins (27-21-9), who have been outscored 21-10 on a four-game losing streak. Tristan Jarry allowed six goals on 29 shots and was pulled after the second period. Casey DeSmith made 14 saves in relief.
Sidney Crosby had one assist and two shots on goal.
"Our roster is our roster, so we have what we have," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "We're trying to put the best combinations on the ice that we think give us the best chance to win. That's the criteria I've always utilized."
Edmonton scored seven straight goals after Letang gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead on the first shot of the game, a wrist shot at 1:05 of the first period.
"Nobody is trying to send any messages," said Crosby, the Penguins captain. "You can turn it into whatever you want to. It's a matter of playing better. I'm not going to sit here and talk about messages. Nobody is trying to send a message. We're trying to win games."

McDavid tied it 1-1 on a power play at 13:18, driving below the goal line for a wrist shot that went in off Jarry's back for his 45th goal of the season.
Draisaitl made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 17:49, scoring on a rebound off a slap shot from Tyson Barrie.
Kailer Yamamoto extended the lead to 3-1 at 6:06 of the second period when he tapped in a loose puck in the crease.
Devin Shore scored at 7:50 to make it 4-1. Jesse Puljujarvi intercepted a clearing attempt from Jarry along the end boards and set up Shore for a wrist shot in the left face-off circle.
It was Shore's first goal in 32 games this season, and 50th in 407 NHL games.
"I doubt I'll get to 100, so it's nice to have a nice round number like that," Shore said. "I didn't know that. But never say never. It was fun."

Warren Foegele pushed it to 5-1 at 15:10 with a quick shot off a pass from Draisaitl on a 2-on-1, and Nugent-Hopkins made it 6-1 at 18:54 with a wrist shot set up by McDavid.
The goal was Nugent-Hopkins' 600th point (224 goals, 376 assists) in 778 games since being the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.
"I've been lucky to be part of this group for a long time and play with some great players," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I think every year, like everybody else, I'm trying to get better and better and work out my game, try to round it out a lot. I want to be that two-way player. Trying to find my stride."

McDavid gave Edmonton a 7-1 lead when he scored on a penalty shot with 3:33 left in the third. After being tripped by Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin, he went forehand to backhand and back to his forehand for a shot around DeSmith.
Letang scored on a power play with 1:48 remaining for the 7-2 final.
The Penguins were outshot 44-24, including 14-3 in the first period.
"It's frustrating right now," Letang said. "We're not playing the way we were supposed to play. We get discouraged pretty quick."
NOTES: McDavid, who had seven shots on goal, had at least four points for the ninth time this season, becoming the first player to do so since Mario Lemieux (16 games), Jaromir Jagr (nine) and Peter Forsberg (nine) in 1995-96. McDavid is the only Edmonton player in the past 30 years to have a goal streak as long as Draisaitl's; he scored in seven straight from Nov. 28-Dec. 9 this season, and six in a row from March 28-April 7 last season. … Pittsburgh had two goals disallowed in the third period. Evgeni Malkin thought he scored on a power play at 2:28 before it was deemed offside during an Edmonton challenge; Jeff Carter used a high stick to deflect a puck in at 8:25. … Dumoulin was minus-3 in 15:43 of ice time.