The Penguins, for years, have been the NHL’s benchmark for talent and skill. But, Thursday night, they’ll take on the new face of the league’s elite talent.
Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers come to PPG Paints Arena, and bring with them the NHL’s top offensive attack and power play.
McDavid leads the NHL in points — by a massive margin. His 105 points are 20 more than the next player, who just so happens to be his teammate, Leon Draisaitl.
“We need to try to dictate the terms,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “When you’re playing offensive players that are elite like those guys, the less they have the puck, it gives us a better chance to have success.”
The 26-year-old McDavid’s 44 goals are tops in the league, ahead of Boston’s David Pastrnak by three, and his 61 assists are two more than Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov, who has 59.
"Often you prepare for a game like this, and you talk about their team,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “But I think we're going to spend a little bit of time on a certain individual... Any time he's on the ice you have to pay extra attention."
The Oilers also have a power play that is verging on historic status. Edmonton is connecting at a 31.7 percent clip.
The NHL record is held by Montreal, which scored on 31.9 percent of power plays in 1977-78. No NHL team has finished a season over 30 percent on the man-advantage since 1978-79.
“You’ve got to be disciplined,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. “You don’t want to put yourself in position to give them a lot of looks. It’s dangerous.”
Draisaitl leads the NHL with 21 power play goals. McDavid is third, with 17, and also leads the league with 35 power play assists.
More on McDavid
When asked what makes McDavid special, the first answer from Penguins’ players was remarkably common.
“The speed,” said Letang, echoing several of his teammates. “The speed and his execution. The way he processes the play ahead of everybody. It’s like he’s picking you apart before you even know you’re stuck.”
McDavid has been held off the scoresheet just six times this season, and only once since the start of January.
“It’s tough. He’s a world class player and has been for a really long time, and will be for years ahead," forward Jason Zucker said. "You’re not going to eliminate all of his chances. You’ve just got to eliminate the easy ones, and make it a tougher game for him.”
The race heats up
The Penguins have lost three straight, all to Metropolitan Division teams, and two to the Islanders, which had trailed Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.
Now the Penguins are on the outside, looking in. That said, they still have four games in on the Islanders and Panthers, which have two-point and one-point leads over Pittsburgh, respectively.
So the panic button —particularly in a room of veterans — isn’t being pressed just yet. Even if there are some up-and-coming teams, like Detroit and Buffalo, also breathing down the necks of the Penguins as the season nears the stretch run.
“Guys have been through a lot, so we know what to expect," forward Jake Guentzel said. "We’ve got to lean on the leaders, and play a gritty game to get out of a stretch like this.”
Despite their stumble here of late, the hope in Pittsburgh’s locker room does seem to be there. But the work has to be done.
“We’ll show and prove that,” Crosby added. “It’s up to us. We can talk about it every day, all we want. We’ve got to go out there and do it.”
Absences Wednesday
The Penguins were without a pair of blue liners during the skate. Marcus Pettersson and Jeff Petry both did not participate.
“Jeff Petry was sick, so we sent him home,” said Sullivan. “And Marcus was excused in advance from practice.”
Ryan Poehling, who has not played in eleven days and has been dealing with an upper-body injury, also did not practice.