Just four days after Tristan Jarry became an Edmonton Oiler, he gets to face his former team. Fresh off of work visa completion, Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak will don the Penguins’ sweater for the first time against the Oil on Tuesday.

How fitting.

“This one here was a little bit more unique in that we felt that it was a chance to make some improvements to the team on defense (sic), add a draft pick and add a (goalie) that’s played a ton of hockey, and very good hockey,” said general manager Kyle Dubas to the press after the trade on Friday.

Neither player has spoken to the local media yet in Pittsburgh. That may happen today before the game.

How long Skinner and Kulak fit into Pittsburgh’s plans is an open question. After an unexpectedly good start that had fans dreaming of playoffs again, the Pens are crumbling on this five-game homestand. Are they building blocks or trade chips?

Leads are their enemy

Pittsburgh has gone 0-1-3 at PPG Paints Arena lately and are being saved by Bettman points, winless in five straight dating back to Dec. 4.

Worse of all is how they’re losing: blown leads.

Last Tuesday, the Ducks scored with 0.1 seconds left and won in a shootout.

Saturday against the Sharks was all but in the bag. Pittsburgh led 5-1 with 13 minutes left in regulation but slipped into total freefall, surrendering four unanswered. John Klingberg scored his second of the night to win in overtime to complete the fifth latest four-game comeback win in NHL history.

Then ahead 3-0 at the 2nd intermission just 24 hours later, the Utah Mammoth scored four unanswered (their fastest four goals in franchise history) to take the lead in the 3rd period. Justin Brazeau tied it to force overtime, but Dylan Guenther ended it just 42 seconds in, his 6th overtime goal in 1.5 years.

Leads are slipping through their fingers.

“Not in a million years did I think we’d be back here today, 24 hours later, having the exact same conversation,” rookie head coach Dan Muse said after the Mammoth loss.

“We need some plays that are going to not allow those bounces to be the difference,” Sidney Crosby said Sunday. “That can come in a lot of different forms. I think we just got to stick together and find a way to get over it.”

Not so familiar faces

Before Monday’s NHL slate, this recent rut left PIT on the outside of the wildcard with 37 points, amassed with a 14-8-9 record. Those eight regulation losses, however, are the fewest in the Eastern Conference.

Forever the three-headed monster of Crosby-Malkin-Letang, the Penguins are getting new contributions throughout the lineup.

Anthony Mantha has turned back the clock, providing 10-10–21. But most importantly, the oft-injured winger hasn’t missed a game.

Justin Brazeau was a house on fire to begin, but missed all of November. Despite cooling down following his return, he did score two goals vs Utah, and has 14 points in 17 games, just eight points behind his career high. You won’t miss him out there, standing 6’6” and 232-lbs.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Ben Kindel has been a fine addition. Drafted 11th overall in the summer, Kindel is playing an elevated role right now, and had a career high three points vs Utah. His 14 points are top-10 amongst NHL rookies.

Defensively, Ryan Shea is averaging 19:50 in TOI, as a late-bloomer 28-year-old. Meanwhile, their total TOI leader at 5-on-5 is not Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang – it’s Parker Wotherspoon. Another 2015 drafted player that climbed from the AHL, Wotherspoon is an unsung hero of the Pens, as Kyle Dubas has gotten creative plugging holes.

Hurt, recovered, and doghouse stars

Evgeni Malkin was on a better than point per game pace until his injury on Dec. 4, which dovetails with the last Pens win. The 39-year-old is listed at week-to-week with an upper-body injury, but was reeling in the years with 8-21–29 in 26 games. Geno is still a monster and is a pending free agent.

Rickard Rakell is back after a long layoff, though. Coming off of a career-high 70 points a year ago, Rakell required surgery on his left hand forcing him to sit for 20 games. Now with two games under his belt, he’s provided one assist.

He’s an Oiler killer historically. In 35 career games, Rakell has recorded 13 goals, 15 assists, 28 points with four game-winning goals vs Edmonton.

Erik Karlsson is in the doghouse amongst fans for his defensive ways, but he will enter tonight’s game on a four-game point streak. He was an ugly -24 a season ago. For the second straight year, there are nearly as many High Danger Chances Against than For when Karlsson is on the ice 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The Crosby Show

While our eyes are focused on Leon Draisaitl getting his 100th point, one of the greatest players of all-time, Sidney Crosby is on pace to continue his NHL record streak of being a point-per-game or better.

With 19-15-34 in 31 games, Crosby leads the way for PIT. For reference, he has 1721 points in 1383 games.

His remarkable consistency continues to surpass other legends of the game, highlighted in these stats largely culled from NHL.com:

He’s two points back of Mario Lemieux’s franchise record of 1723 points, and 46 goals back for the goals lead.
On Saturday, Sidney Crosby notched two power-play points (1G-1A), making him the 12th player in NHL history to record 600 or more power-play points.
Sidney Crosby’s next even-strength goal will surpass Phil Esposito (448) for sole possession of the ninth-most even-strength goals in NHL history.
He enters tonight two assists shy of tying Adam Oates for the eighth-most assists in NHL history.
By season’s end, Crosby could have sole possession of 6th all-time in points. He trails Lemieux by two, Steve Yzerman by 34, and Marcel Dionne by 50. If he goes nuclear, he is 77 points behind former Penguin Ron Francis for 5th all-time.
Crosby has points in four of his last five, and was tied-5th in the league in goals before Monday’s games.
Crosby has 25 points (6G-19A) in 25 career games versus the Oilers. Only two franchises (Vegas and Chicago) can say they’ve kept Crosby below a ppg.

Other notes:

The Pens power play has climbed to best in the league with the recent Oilers slippage. It’s a whopping 32.1 per cent, just a tick better than Dallas.
Their penalty kill is darn good, too. It sits tied-5th in the league at 84 per cent before Monday’s games.
PIT is bottom-10 in 5-on-5 goals this year with 59, and have a -5 goal differential, according to MoneyPuck.
Bryan Rust has six points in his last three games. He needs three points to surpass Jake Guentzel for 11th all-time in Pens scoring.
Former Oiler Caleb Jones is on this team, but is currently on LTIR after a lower-body injury back on Oct. 25. The Pens are his fourth NHL team since he was traded for Duncan Keith in 2021 (Blackhawks, Avalanche, Kings, Penguins).
We’ve seen some high-scoring games between these two since Connor McDavid entered the league, and the Oilers have dominated the head-to-heads.
The Pens snapped a seven game losing streak to the Oilers on Jan. 9, 2025, in a 5-3 win. EDM has scored 40 goals in the last eight games vs PIT.

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