Of course, that game was just a few days after the Stuart Skinner-Tristan Jarry swap, and Leon Draisaitl whacked home his 1,000th point, leading to cigarettes for all in the dressing room in a 6-4 win.

While we still get McDavid vs. Crosby, the narratives aren’t quite as compelling, but it is only Crosby’s fifth appearance in Edmonton in the 2020s. That’s good enough.

Skinner will not play after stopping 17 of 18 shots in a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames last night. It denies us spectators of what would’ve been the biggest storyline for the game, but instead, it’s Arturs Silovs who will start.

Evgeni Malkin, Tomas Novak, and Jack St. Ivany each provided two points in the victory as well, as the Pens wrap up their roadtrip with their third game in four nights, looking for a sweep.

As they awake in Alberta on Thursday morning, they’re second in the Metro with a 24-14-11 record, 3-0-2 in their last five games, and scored six goals in that stretch twice.

Before Wednesday’s game vs Calgary, they led the NHL in goals against per game (2.17) and fourth in goals against (26) over a 12-game stretch, dating back to December 27.

Oilersnation wants to hear from you, the reader, in our new weekly “Letters to the Editor” segment. Letters can be emailed to Oilersnation’s managing editor Zach Laing (zach.laing@bettercollective.com), titled “Letters to the Editor.” Please include a letter up to 200 words, including your name, place of residence (city, town, province, or state). Your letters may be edited for length and/or clarity. Letters must be submitted by 6 PM MT Saturday night to be considered for feature on Sunday mornings.

The Crosby Show

Sidney freakin’ Crosby continues to defy age and deterioration. He had seven multi-point games in his last 10 before the Calgary contest. Crosby has seven points in the last four games.

On Monday, Crosby played his 1,400th NHL game, becoming just the 12th player in NHL history to reach the mark with a single franchise, while also producing his 512th multi-point game, surpassing Gordie Howe for the fifth most all-time.

He’s enjoying ridiculous statistical success in his 21st season. Crosby is fifth in the NHL in goals and 14th overall in points in 2025-26.

The “Croz” registered his 19th 50-point season, tied with Alex Ovechkin and Wayne Gretzky for the sixth most all-time. He surpassed Mario Lemieux in franchise history scoring on December 21, too.

Not to mention, the three-time Stanley Cup champion will also seek his third Olympic gold medal in February.

Does he think about this history he’s making?

“I don’t really think about it that way, to be honest with you,” Crosby said before Monday’s game against Seattle.

“I think you try to do your best to try to help the team win and, ultimately, it’s about winning hockey games. So, I think you want to contribute and produce, but I don’t think about that a whole lot, to be honest.”

These teams are special

Great special teams under new coach Dan Muse is a big reason why Pittsburgh is enjoying its best regular season in years.

They boast a powerplay that is clicking at around 28 per cent, third best in the league. The penalty kill is over 83 per cent, fourth best in the league.

That’s damn good. Maybe the best in the league.

In fact, the kill is 21/22 in their last seven games.

Once Pittsburgh got over that run of gagging away huge third-period leads back in December, they’ve been dangerous. The Oilers took advantage of that fragility earlier in the season.

Skinner’s second wind

But the goaltending is a positive. There’s no denying that Skinner took a week or more to get comfortable in Pittsburgh. Since then, he’s won six of his last seven starts, and only once in that stretch was his save percentage below .900.

Skinner’s return would be interesting, given the comments he made last week when asked to compare Pittsburgh to Edmonton.

“Definitely a big difference in terms of the feelings. I think here, it’s honestly just a great feeling. I feel like everyone’s really rooting for you and is really ‘all together.’ It feels like Pittsburgh is one big family, and we’re a very united city,” said Skinner.

“It’s been nothing but positive here. It’s been really, honestly – again – just family-oriented. It’s just been really enjoyable, and I already kind of forget what it was like in Edmonton.”

There will be some tribute to him at Rogers Place tonight, according to my sources. I’m sure there will be a smattering of cheers, then jeers.

He’s traded starts with Silovs, who is coming off a 23-save game against CBJ that ended in a 4-3 shootout loss. On the year, Silovs has a 3.05 goals against average and a .892 save percentage.

Doing it without the D

Another reason for the success is that Kyle Dubas has identified new players to fill roles and integrate with the future Hall of Famers.

For example, last night’s win came without Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang in the lineup. Letang was a game-time decision to be held out, with an upper-body injury.

Karlsson, who is fourth in team scoring with four goals and 33 points, is nearing a return to the lineup, having not played since January 11th with a lower-body injury.

“It could be a lot worse,” said the three-time Norris Trophy winner. “I feel like everything is going according to what they told me when it first occurred. It’s something I haven’t dealt with before, but nothing major, so not something that I expect to be able to linger once I do come back.”

That’s where veteran hand Brett Kulak has become leaned upon to play over 20 minutes a night. He even contributed his first goal as a Penguin on Monday.

Added into the mix with Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea, and Jack St. Ivany, this “no-name” defence is doing fine.

Notes:

Crosby’s running mate since 2006, Evgeni Malkin, is once again central to rumours. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe is reporting that Geno wants to stay in Pittsburgh and would take a paycut. He’s in the last year of his $6.1 million deal.
Malkin drinks from a similar fountain of youth. He’s scored 11 goals and 37 points in 34 games. He missed most of December, but has only been held off the scoresheet twice in his last 10.
With his two goals on Monday, Connor Dewar has tied his career-high in goals (11) and points (19), both set in the 2023-24 season.
Interestingly, he is now tied for second in the league in empty net goals (4).
As mentioned, Brett Kulak scored his first goal, becoming the 26th player to score for PIT this season, the most of any club.
Rickard Rakell is on a four-game point streak. In 36 career games vs the Oilers, Rakell has 13 goals and 29 points.
Shoring up the blueline, the Penguins acquired Ilya Solovyov from Colorado in exchange for Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 seventh-round draft pick.
Solovyov had three points in 16 appearances with the Avs, who was picked off waivers from Calgary back in October.
This head-to-head has been great for Edmonton lately. The Oilers are 8-2 in their last 10 matchups, including all four home games in the 2020s by a combined score of 21-6.
Eight of those 10 games, the Oilers have scored four or more goals.