Early in the third period Sunday night in Edmonton, cameras caught Paul Coffey — a legend in Edmonton and Pittsburgh who is now an Edmonton Oilers assistant coach — in full yawn.
It was a perfectly valid reaction.
The ferociously fast and talented Oilers toyed with the hapless Pittsburgh Penguins all night in a 6-1 victory that officially ends the Penguins’ Western Canada trip and unofficially ends any outrageous notion the Penguins have any kind of chance at reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Zach Hyman scored twice for the Oilers and Connor McDavid scored once and added a helper. The Oilers raced to a 5-0 lead through 40 minutes in a game that was never competitive in any way.
“I don’t think there’s a lot to be said tonight,” Mike Sullivan said. “We’ve just got to find a way to get home and regroup.”
Sullivan is aware his team is 9 points out of a playoff spot.
“Obviously, we’re in a fight for the playoffs,” Sullivan said. “We understand the position we’re in.”
The Penguins’ trip started with a surprising victory in Vancouver, igniting hope among the fans that perhaps a late playoff surge was possible. Like every other mini-winning streak that has taken place this season, what happened in Vancouver was simply fool’s gold.
These Penguins are not a good hockey team. Against perhaps the favorite to win the Stanley Cup, they looked every bit as outmatched as one would have assumed before the game.
The Oilers scored early and often on the rush, they overwhelmed Alex Nedeljkovic in front of the net and they rarely allowed the Penguins to have much in the way of scoring opportunities.
There once was a time when McDavid’s playing against Sidney Crosby was must-see TV, but in recent years, McDavid and the Oilers have dominated the Penguins. Edmonton is 5-0 in its past five games against Pittsburgh, having outscored the Penguins by a whopping 30-9 total in those contests.
Though Edmonton continues its red-hot play, the shift in Pittsburgh will turn to general manager/president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and the upcoming NHL trade deadline, which is set for Friday afternoon.
There is no question — there hasn’t been for a while, but this trip confirmed it — that Dubas will be a seller. The question now remains just how big of a seller will he be?
It seems almost certain Jake Guentzel will be traded, but there are also plenty of other candidates to be shipped out of Pittsburgh by Friday.
Given what was on display Sunday night, it’s hard to imagine there are many players on this roster Dubas will feel obligated to keep in black and gold.
Sure, the Oilers are a great team and indomitable in their home building these days. The Penguins, however, barely looked like an NHL team in this game. It was an embarrassing performance and comes 24 hours after the Penguins blew a 3-1, third-period advantage in Calgary.
The winds of change are very much blowing.
Ten postgame observations
• The saddest thing about this game was that McDavid didn’t even look to be tremendously engaged.
Oh, he was the best player on the ice. That’s what happens when you’re the best player in the world and one of the best players of all time. But it’s not like McDavid was putting on a show in this game, and my point is, I don’t think he felt like it was particularly necessary.
His Oilers were so utterly dominant from the beginning that a vintage McDavid performance was hardly necessary. In all seriousness, the Oilers probably could have put a 10-spot on the scoreboard if they wanted to.
It’s not like the Penguins weren’t trying. They always try.
“We just got outplayed,” Sullivan said.
• The Oilers are a special offensive team, and their overall team speed makes them unique. McDavid and his teammates are going to score on the rush more than most teams and, even if you’re preparing for their attack on the rush, they’re still going to get their chances. It’s what they do.
But the Penguins’ approach was pathetic. One defenseman after another got trapped for the Penguins, giving Edmonton an endless buffet of odd-man rushes. The Penguins were eagerly engaging in pond hockey with the Oilers.
Erik Karlsson got trapped on the first Edmonton goal.
97 ➡️ 18 ➡️ 🚨 pic.twitter.com/38FhbOMJ5q
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 4, 2024
I can’t begin to articulate how poor this decision was. How many teams in the NHL should be playing pond hockey with the Oilers? Maybe the Colorado Avalanche? Maybe. That’s it. It’s playing right into their hands. It’s like playing pond hockey against the 1985 Oilers or the 1992 Penguins. Good luck.
The Penguins never tried to slow the game down.
• This game had loss written all over it long before the puck was dropped. You just don’t recover from a loss like the Penguins sustained against the Calgary Flames one night earlier.
It was the kind of loss that ends a season and gets people traded. To play against the Oilers, in Edmonton, one night later on the second night of a back-to-back stretch?
Good luck with that.
The Oilers are a bad matchup for everyone, but they’re an especially bad matchup for the oldest team that also happens to be one of the slower teams in the NHL.
• I realize it’s not the 1980s and I realize the Penguins don’t possess a lineup with many tough customers.
But for God’s sake, would somebody please show a little bit of a fire? The Penguins pretty much sat back and took the beating all night. Would it kill someone to throw a hit? Maybe pick a fight? Maybe show a little bit of intensity?
Instead, the Penguins largely went through the motions. I saw no energy, no intensity.
Simply put, the Penguins looked like a dead team Sunday, a team that is very much resigned to its fate. They can read the standings, too. The loss in Calgary just sapped everything out of them.
I don’t sense they have much else to give and I could foresee something of a collapse for the remainder of the season.
And you know what? It might be the best thing for them. This is a stale team that requires real change. Surely Dubas sees that more than ever.
• I will not be blaming Nedeljkovic for anything we witnessed in this game. What exactly do you want him to do?
The number of Grade-A chances the Penguins allowed was substantial.
I was surprised Sullivan went with Tristan Jarry in Calgary and Nedeljkovic against the Oilers. But in reality, I don’t think it would have mattered one way or the other. The Penguins were never winning this game.
• Jansen Harkins had a chance to score his first goal of the season when he was awarded a penalty shot.
His attempt went wide.
He’s fairly big and fairly fast and one can see why the Penguins were intrigued by him. But the lack of offense has been the story of Harkins’ season.
• Many fans will be calling for Sullivan’s head and, make no mistake, this season hasn’t been his finest hour. The Penguins hardly look like a well-coached team.
My sense has long been that he won’t be fired because Fenway Sports Group loves him and Crosby loves him.
But let me ask this: Why would Sullivan want to stay with this team long-term? Oh, there are millions of reasons, of course. But let’s not act like he couldn’t land a lucrative job immediately upon being made available. It’s hard to feel good about the next couple of years unless Dubas is even smarter than we think.
• The Penguins’ body language during this game couldn’t have been worse. They know.
• Hyman reminds me so much of Chris Kunitz. Not the most talented in the world. Not the fastest in the world. But don’t assume McDavid has completely made him.
Hyms stays hot 🌶️ pic.twitter.com/iOEpsIFcMa
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 4, 2024
Oh, playing with McDavid helps quite a bit. Of course, it does. But Hyman is a heck of a player, the kind of player you win championships with.
• Everyone will focus on the deadline Friday, but don’t be shocked if Dubas starts making moves before then. I could see four or five players being moved from this team, easily. I doubt Dubas wants to wait until Friday, for logistical reasons, to start trading everyone.
It’s open season on this roster. We know which players won’t be traded because of no-movement clauses.
But the Penguins are about to be dismantled. And really, their play this season has given Dubas no other choice.
(Photo: Derek Leung / Getty Images)
