On one end of the ice of PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday stood new Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner in his old Edmonton Oilers mask.

At the other end stood new Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry in his old Pittsburgh Penguins mask.

In the great expanse between them was Sidney Crosby, trying to become the Penguins’ all-time leader in scoring as the incumbent claimant of that mark, Mario Lemieux, observed as a spectator.

And Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl was chasing his own milestone as he entered the day with 999 career points (while his always breathtaking teammate, Connor McDavid, patrolled the rink).

Yet, even with all those remarkable circumstances, it might have been the most boring game the Penguins have participated in in quite some time.

The end result was the same as the Penguins lost 6-4, extending a season-worst losing streak to six games (0-2-4).

Unlike many of their previous losses, the Penguins didn’t have a series of unfortunate misadventures that led to defeat. They simply just got beat.

Over the past week, the Penguins had been plagued by a series of blunders that have led to humiliating and bewildering losses, including some that saw them give up multiple-goal leads to the opponent in the third period.

On Tuesday, they got behind and never recovered.

McDavid (two goals, two assists) and Draisaitl (four assists) did most of the damage.

“Their two big dogs were really going today,” Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “It was something to watch at times, even as an opponent. They had a (heck) of a game. We couldn’t find a way to kind of get traction going. I don’t think we played poorly, but I also don’t think we maybe didn’t play the smartest game for the matchup that we had today. That’s on us in here to realize that a little earlier, maybe.

“It’s a tough loss and one that I think that maybe we felt this wasn’t our best.”

Skinner, acquired in a trade from the Oilers on Friday, unofficially stopped 17 of 22 shots in his Penguins debut. His record fell to 11-9-4.

“Super weird, like, taking (an afternoon) nap and thinking that I’m playing the old team,” Skinner said. “Obviously not the way that I wanted to start. I think I definitely could have helped these guys out on a few goals.”

Jarry, who went to Edmonton in the deal, made 26 saves on 30 shots against his former club, as his mark improved to 11-3-1.

“Both goalies handled themselves well,” McDavid said. “Unique situation, obviously, probably a strange night for both guys, and I thought they handled themselves just fine. (Jarry) obviously stood in there and made some big saves for us.

“Credit to (Skinner), too, stepping in a weird spot, and I thought he made some good saves.”

During the first television stoppage, the Penguins offered a graphic on the video boards welcoming Jarry back. Most fans offered a steady, polite applause as Jarry responded with a quick wave.

“He’s a guy who I’ve been friends with and teammates with for, obviously, a really long time,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. “It was tough.”

It was a tough night for Crosby and company. He recorded an assist, his 1,722nd point, one short of Lemieux’s record. Beyond that, there was little notable about the home team’s performance.

The Penguins’ typically stout penalty kill was diced up by the Oilers’ always voracious power play, which scored three goals on four opportunities.

“Our penalty kill has been good,” Karlsson said. “So, I don’t think that we were too worried about that going into the game. Obviously, they capitalized on it a few too many times. You know those hurt. But I think overall, I just don’t feel like we figured out what we needed to do today to play a successful game.”

The Penguins appeared to have early success as forward Justin Brazeau seemingly opened the scoring 7:51 into regulation during a power-play sequence, but the Oilers issued a coach’s challenge, alleging the sequence to be offside. A quick video review confirmed the malfeasance and euthanized the score.

Coach Dan Muse didn’t dispute the verdict.

“We go offsides. We control that,” Muse said. “The goal gets called back. It’s offsides. That’s on us.”

The Oilers then scored a pair of hiccup-quick goals in a legal fashion over a 14-second span during extended power-play time after the Penguins managed to cram three consecutive penalties into an 86-second stretch.

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Forward Zach Hyman’s eighth goal came at the 11:38 mark of the first period during a five-on-three power-play sequence.

Accepting a pass in the left circle of the offensive zone, McDavid shuffled a feed across the slot that was partially blocked by kneeling Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea. The puck still managed to skid in on the crease and as Skinner flopped down in hopes of smothering it, Hyman backhand jabbed it in off of the goaltender’s right leg and into the cage. McDavid and Draisaitl had assists as the latter recorded his 1,000th point and was greeted by teammates rushing off the bench to celebrate.

Skinner was immediately adjacent to his former teammates’ jubilation.

‘Bittersweet,” Skinner said. “I was his teammate for a long time, and whenever anybody gets 1,000 points, you’re going to congratulate them. But I would’ve rather it not be on me.”

McDavid scored his team-leading 19th goal at the 11:52 mark in stunning fashion.

Draisaitl weaved his way from the visiting bench in the neutral zone and McDavid shot past him like a comet, almost stealing the puck. McDavid furiously entered the offensive zone, bulled his way past overwhelmed Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, then attacked the cage by tucking a backhander by Skinner’s left skate. Assists were doled out to Draisaitl and defenseman Evan Bouchard.

It wasn’t Skinner first exposure to McDavid’s brilliance.

“I faced so many (shots) in practice, so it was a little bit of a mental game,” Skinner said. “He’s got a lot of moves in his pocket. As he came in close. I just felt like he was going to go five-hole, because he’s done that to me a few times in practice.

“I just kind of played it safe where I think next time, I won’t be playing it as safe.”

Penguins forward Tommy Novak scored his sixth goal late in the opening frame at the 19:15 mark.

After Oilers forward Curtis Lazar won a draw in his own left circle, rookie defenseman Alec Regula tried to flip the puck up ice but wound up playing it into linesman Trent Knorr. Penguins forward Anthony Mantha alertly claimed the turnover and backhanded the puck on net. Jarry rejected that shot but allowed a rebound to the left of the crease, which Novak cleaned up with a forehand shot. Mantha merited the lone assist.

The Oilers struck again at 4:35 of the second period via rookie forward Matt Savoie’s seventh goal.

Taking a pass at the left point of the offensive zone, Regula snapped a pass across the ice to the left dot for Savoie, who fired a wrister from a bad angle to the far side. The puck struck the inside of Skinner’s left leg and caromed into the cage. Regula and forward Mattias Janmark generated assists.

Karlsson collected his third goal during a power-play sequence at 6:24 of the second frame.

Accepting the puck to the left of the cage, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell slid a pass through the crease to the lower rim of the right circle for Crosby. Considering his options for a moment, Crosby offload the puck to the high slot where Karlsson cranked a one-timer by Jarry’s glove. Mantha (6-foot-5, 240 pounds) supplied an effective screen on the sequence. Crosby and Rakell registered assists.

The Oilers were not deterred and converted on another power-play opportunity at 9:34 of the second as Bouchard blasted a shot for his sixth goal.

Corralling his own rebound in the left corner of the offensive zone, McDavid fed the puck to the high slot for Bouchard. Faking a wrister, Bouchard got Penguins forward Noel Acciari off the tracks a bit, opening up a shooting lane. With a clearer look, Bouchard ripped a wrister past Skinner’s blocker. McDavid and Draisaitl were deemed eligible for assists.

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Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin put his team up by a field goal with his ninth goal 9:47 into the third period.

After Karlsson failed to keep a puck in the offensive zone at the right point, Draisaitl pushed it up ice and generated a three-on-one rush with Podkolzin and Savoie against Wotherspoon. From the Penguins’ left circle, Draisaitl forced a backdoor pass intended for Savoie, which Wotherspoon broke up with his right leg. The ensuing rebound trickled loose in the slot where Podkolzin punched it in with a forehand shot past Skinner’s right skate. Draisaitl and defenseman Matthias Ekholm extracted assists.

With Skinner pulled for an extra attacker, Rust’s 12th goal came at 16:51 of the final frame.

Karlsson intercepted a clearing attempt at the right point of the Edmonton zone and swiped a forehand shot/pass to the high slot, where Mantha redirected it toward the cage with the forehand side of his stick blade. Jarry made the initial save with his right leg, but Rust was planted above the crease and directed the rebound by his right skate. Mantha and Karlsson collected assists.

McDavid secured victory with a goal on an empty net off an assist by Hyman at the 18:41 mark of the final frame.

Penguins forward Danton Heinen’s first goal of the season came late at the 19:46 mark.

Novak drove his way into the offensive zone on the left wing, got past Regula and slipped a pass to the lower left hashmark where an onrushing Heinen swept a forehand shot by Jarry’s glove. Novak and Shea had assists.

It was a considerably different game compared to the Penguins’ recent losses, especially their come-from-ahead defeats in overtime at home to the San Jose Sharks (6-5 on Saturday) and the Utah Mammoth (5-4 on Sunday). In each of those contests, the Penguins gave up at least three-goal leads in the third period to secure those setbacks.

On Tuesday, they successfully avoided losing a lead by never having one.

Regardless of the method, a loss is a loss and the Penguins have six straight of them.

“I don’t think we can get too low on ourselves,” Karlsson said. “Same as when we were doing well there for a while, we didn’t get too high. We’ve got to try and find that middle ground again and realize that we’re still a good team. We have to figure out the ways that made us a successful team earlier in the year and get back to that a little bit.”

Notes:

• Defenseman Brett Kulak, also acquired in the trade with the Oilers, made his Penguins debut. Primarily stationed on the third pairing, Kulak logged 15:22 of ice time on 14 shifts (including 52 seconds on the penalty kill). He also attempted three shots and blocked two shots. Most notably, Kulak took a delay of game penalty at 10:38 of the first period that prolonged the Penguins’ short-handed woes early in the contest.

• Kulak became the third player to wear No. 77 in a game of consequence for the Penguins. He was preceded by defenseman Paul Coffey and forward Jeff Carter.

• Skinner became the second player to wear No. 74 in a game of consequence for the Penguins. He was preceded by defenseman Jay McKee.

• Regarding him and Jarry wearing the masks representative of their former teams, Skinner was glib over the oddity.

“That would have been funny if we just saw each other in warmups at the red line and changed helmets,” Skinner said.

• Penguins rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany made his season debut at the NHL level, opening the contest on the third pairing with Kulak. On 15 shifts, St. Ivany had 14:52 of ice time, including 33 assists. He attempted one shot and blocked three shots.

• Karlsson (134 points) surpassed defensemen Dave Burrows and Brooks Orpik (132 each) to move into 71st place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• The Penguins’ last six-game losing streak came between Oct. 18 and 29, 2024 (0-5-1).

• Penguins defensemen Connor Clifton and Ryan Graves, as well as rookie forward Ville Koivunen, were healthy scratches.

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