Sidney Crosby hits milestone as Penguins top Oilers

The Penguins captain tied Hall of Famer Joe Sakic at 1,641 points with an assist on Bryan Rust's first-period goal. Crosby then moved past Sakic with an assist on Drew O'Connor's sixth goal of the season later in the period as the Penguins raced to a 4-1 advantage.

Rust also had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh, which snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Oilers for the first time since Dec. 20, 2019. Alex Nedeljkovic made 40 stops for the Penguins and Rickard Rakell scored his team-high 21st goal as Pittsburgh won without injured centre Evgeni Malkin.

McDavid finished with three assists. Leon Draisaitl scored twice to boost his season total to an NHL-best 31, but the Penguins beat Stuart Skinner four times in the first 14 minutes. Skinner settled down to finish with 21 saves but it wasn't enough as the Penguins ended Edmonton's four-game winning streak.

Oilers: Their attention to detail in the first period was shaky. While Skinner wasn't at his best, the Penguins also had little trouble generating chances.

Penguins: Pittsburgh remains a work in progress at midseason but showed it can compete with the league's best on a given night.

Key moment

Crosby's 12th goal 5:42 into the second put the Penguins up 5-1, some welcome wiggle room for a team that has struggled to hold multiple-goal leads.

80 — The number of points Crosby needs to tie Penguins icon Mario Lemieux for eighth (1,723) on the career list.

Edmonton finishes a four-game trip at Chicago on Saturday. The Penguins continue a five-game homestand on Saturday against Ottawa.