Connor McDavid Takes Responsibility for Oilers' 6-2 Loss to Penguins

Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers suffered a 6-2 home loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at Rogers Place. The defeat followed a chaotic opening period that left Edmonton scrambling for answers.

After the game, McDavid addressed the team’s lack of urgency head-on. He said the standard begins with him and admitted his recent play has not been good enough.

“Well, it starts with me, I think,” McDavid said. “The last two [games] probably weren’t my best. I could be better. When I’m better, usually the whole group responds, and that starts there.

“Sense of urgency starts in practice. I thought our puck play’s been really bad, not really connecting on passes. When you play that way, it looks slow and clunky. I thought we’ve looked that way for the last two games.”

The night unraveled quickly as Pittsburgh opened the scoring at 2 minutes, 20 seconds when Anthony Mantha found the net. Just 22 seconds later, Mantha struck again on a breakaway. At 2:57, Sidney Crosby tipped in another goal, giving the Penguins a 3-0 lead in a brutal 37-second span.

Playing from behind forced Edmonton into catch-up mode, which only magnified mistakes. McDavid said the early surge changed everything.

“Obviously not ideal,” McDavid said. “Not a great start. Playing catch-up is tough in this league, and you look pretty bad when you’re doing it. That wasn’t our best, obviously, right from the start.”

Edmonton showed brief pushback in the second period. Jake Walman scored a short-handed goal to cut the deficit, but Pittsburgh answered. Rickard Rakell and Evgeni Malkin extended the lead to 5-1, draining momentum from the building. Egor Chinakhov added another early in the third before Edmonton’s Matt Savoie closed the scoring late.

Facing the team that traded him last month, Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry stopped 16 shots but allowed six goals. Despite its fourth loss in its past five home games, Edmonton sits at 25-19-8 and in second place in the Pacific Division.

With the Washington Capitals next, McDavid said the response Saturday must be better.

“Obviously not the start to the homestand we were looking for,” McDavid said. “Got to have a good one Saturday.”

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jan 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the NHL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Connor McDavid Takes Responsibility for Oilers’ 6-2 Loss to Penguins

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