$25,000,000 D-man gets honest about Edmonton Oilers' first-period defensive collapse against Penguins

Defenseman Mattias Ekholm shared his thoughts following the Edmonton Oilers' 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

The Oilers outshot the Penguins 43-26 and won 55.2% of faceoffs but struggled in the first period, getting outshot 7-13. Pittsburgh scored on their only power play, while Edmonton converted just 33.3% of their chances.

Ekholm, signed to a four-year, $25,000,000 contract, spoke about the defeat to the Penguins.

"Yeah, obviously not the start we wanted" Ekholm said. "It's just a matter of looking forward (now). We can't really do much about the past.

"So, I thought we came out better in the second, took some ground on them, but, at the end of the night, we can't give them that (big a lead) or we can't dig ourselves that big of a hole. It's hard to climb out of it in this league, and we certainly had to pay the price tonight."

The Oilers gave up four goals in the first period and couldn’t recover despite scoring twice in the second period. Coach Chris Knoblauch also shared his thoughts after the game.

"We weren’t ready. They outworked us, outskated us. Attention to details wasn't there." Knoblauch said.

"We had a heck of a game, effort wise and work ethic against Boston. And, tonight, the first 20 minutes, we absolutely took off, and the deficit was too big for us to overcome."

Both teams recorded 16 hits each, but the Penguins blocked 24 shots to Edmonton’s 13. The Penguins' defense played a key role in their win.

The Edmonton Oilers had beaten the Penguins 4-0 in October. But Thursday’s game showed the importance of a strong start and consistent play from the Penguins.

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Edmonton Oilers lost to the Penguins with first-period deficit

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Edmonton Oilers in front of their home crowd with three early goals in the first period. Rickard Rakell scored first at 3:19 of the opening period, followed by Bryan Rust’s goal at 7:22. Kevin Hayes made it 3-0 at 9:46 with a one-timer.

Leon Draisaitl got the Oilers on the board at 12:33, but Drew O’Connor scored at 13:41 to restore Pittsburgh’s three-goal lead.

In the second period, Sidney Crosby scored on a power play at 5:42, extending the Penguins' lead to 5-1. Draisaitl responded with a one-timer at 10:58, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a power-play goal at 19:15 to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 40 saves for Pittsburgh, while Stuart Skinner stopped 21 shots for Edmonton Oilers. Crosby, with one goal and two assists, passed Joe Sakic for ninth in the all-time NHL points list, with 1,643.