Oilers 2, Penguins 1 (SO)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in his NHL debut and Jordan Eberle and Ales Hemsky converted in the shootout as the Edmonton Oilers celebrated their home opener with a 2-1 triumph over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.
After Nugent-Hopkins forced extra time with 4:55 remaining in the third period, Eberle and Hemsky countered a goal by Pittsburgh's James Neal in the sudden-death format to hand the Penguins their first loss in three games this season.
Nugent-Hopkins' first NHL goal came on a nifty between-the-legs pass from fellow first overall pick Taylor Hall. Nugent-Hopkins won a battle for the puck in front of the net and backhanded it past Penguins netminder Brent Johnson to delight the home crowd.
Kris Letang opened the scoring early, blasting a one-timer past Oilers netminder Devan Dubnyk on a power play 3:13 into the opening period. The goal gives him at least one point in all three games so far this season.
The Oilers looked sunk after Ryan Smyth – playing his first game as an Oiler in five seasons – was given a major and a misconduct for elbowing Chris Kunitz in the face with 4:25 remaining in regulation. Edmonton killed off the disadvantage, then held on despite being outshot 3-1 in OT.
Already without Sidney Crosby (concussion), the Penguins received more bad news just prior to the game when Evgeni Malkin was scratched due to a lower-body injury. Malkin took the pregame warmup but wasn't skating well enough to be considered for the game.