Phil Kessel’s fifth goal of the season stood up as the winner as the Pittsburgh Penguins won their sixth game in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Friday.
Daniel Sprong also scored for the Penguins (9-4-0), who have won nine of their last 10 games.
Oscar Klefbom responded for the Oilers (5-9-0), who have lost two of their last three.
Pittsburgh appeared to have scored with four minutes left in the first period on a power-play goal by Patric Hornqvist, but a coach’s challenge video review determined that the Penguins were offside on the play and the goal was disallowed.
The Penguins had 15 first-period shots on Edmonton goalie Anders Nilsson, while the Oilers only had five on Pens starter Jeff Zatkoff, playing in just his second game.
Edmonton got on the board just 45 seconds into the middle frame as Klefbom crossed the blue line and unleashed a rocket that beat Zatkoff up high.
Pittsburgh tied the game with 11 minutes left in the second as Matt Cullen won a battle on the boards and fed it in front for Sprong, who scored his second goal of the season.
The Penguins went up 2-1 midway through the third as a power-play shot by Kessel hit the hand of defender Brandon Davidson and deflected past Nilsson.
Edmonton came close to tying it with two minutes left, but a Leon Draisaitl shot rang off the post.
The Penguins return to action on Saturday against the Flames in Calgary. The Oilers start a four-game road trip in Chicago on Sunday.
Notes: Pens forward Pascal Dupuis was taken to the hospital as a precaution prior to the game after experiencing symptoms that were apparently similar to his blood clot history. Oilers winger Jordan Eberle made his season debut after missing the first 13 games of the season with a shoulder injury sustained in a pre-season game on Sept. 29. It was Edmonton’s first game this year without young phenom Connor McDavid, who suffered a broken collar bone in Tuesday’s win against Philadelphia and could be out for up to three months. Also out for Edmonton were Justin Schultz (back), Lauri Korpikoski (head) and Rob Klinkhammer (leg).
