Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid was quick to acknowledge the gravity of the evening.
“The storylines were endless for the media and the fans. Whatever you guys wanted to write about, you could write about,” McDavid said.
The three-time MVP was right. Heading to his team’s game Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the potential to chronicle history was abundant.
By the end of the game, though, all of the history that we were documenting was the kind the Penguins would like to forget.
The Oilers won 6-4. The defeat meant that the Pens lost all five of the games on this homestand that began Dec. 9. No Penguins team before this one had ever failed to win at least one game of a five-game series at home.
“It adds up. It wears on you. No two games are the same. We have to just focus on the things that we do,” Pens head coach Dan Muse said. “We put ourselves in a hole (2-0) in the first period that we didn’t need to be in.”
The other potential for history that Penguins fans actually turned out hoping to see was the prospect of Sidney Crosby tying or passing Mario Lemieux as the franchise’s all-time points leader.
But Crosby tallied only one assist on the night, leaving him with 1,722 — one shy of Lemieux’s franchise record of 1,723. The Hall of Famer was in attendance just in case Crosby passed him.
Instead, he saw another superstar reach a significant career achievement. Leon Draisaitl became the 103rd skater (and first German-born player) to reach 1,000 points as he picked up four assists during the game for Edmonton.
He’s also the fifth Oiler to reach that plateau. That’s an NHL franchise record.
The #Oilers become the first franchise in NHL history with five 1,000-point players, including Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl! #LetsGoOilerspic.twitter.com/oRyBMlRlgX
— Eric Friesen ???? (@EricJFriesen) December 17, 2025
“It’s pretty amazing,” Draisaitl said. “There are some incredible names there, some names that are absolute legends in our game, in our world. To put myself into that list, it’s special, for sure.”
The other angle on the night wasn’t so much history-making as it was a bizarre oddity. In one net stood former Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry in full Edmonton Oiler gear — except for his Penguins mask that he had not yet swapped out since he just changed teams on Dec. 12 via a trade between the organizations.
In the other net, it was Stuart Skinner in his black-and-gold uniform, and the orange, white and blue mask he wore while being a member of Edmonton’s franchise since 2018.
“It’s strange. I don’t recall this ever happening before. I’m not sure how they had their pads ready,” McDavid said after posting four points. “I’m sure they are both excited to get that out of the way. I’m excited we won the game for (Jarry). Now we can look ahead.”
For both goaltenders, it was a hectic evening. Jarry in particular. He had to play as an opponent in the only building he had ever called home, less than a week after being dealt away.
“To come back here and play in Pittsburgh, definitely a lot of emotions,” Jarry said on Sportsnet after the win. “It was emotional, not so much for playing the other guys but for walking in and seeing all the staff. Seeing all the people that came, that’s what made my time in Pittsburgh so special.”
"Just walking in it was emotional."
Tristan Jarry chats with @GenePrincipe after being a visitor in Pittsburgh for the first time in his career pic.twitter.com/uEMMJspIuA
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 17, 2025
As often was the case during his time as a Penguin, Jarry wasn’t perfect. He allowed four goals on 30 shots. But with Edmonton’s firepower, it was enough for the win.
Skinner, meanwhile, gave up five goals in his Penguins debut on 22 attempts on net from his former team.
“It was definitely different. Super weird. Taking a nap and thinking that I’m going to be playing the old team,” Skinner said of his day. “The first period, I think the first five minutes, I had to settle my game in and calm my mind down.”
Draisaitl had sympathy for both netminders being thrust into such an awkward position so quickly with their new teams.
“It’s odd, the whole situation. How quickly we played them after the trade happened. I’m sure there are a lot of people that felt a little odd about it,” Draisaitl said. “Two amazing human beings. Two really good hockey players. I wish them nothing but the best.”
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The wish now for the Penguins isn’t even for “the best.” It’s for anything good.
At all.
Whether that’s Crosby breaking Lemieux’s record Thursday night at Ottawa, or during the next two games during a home-and-home against Montreal.
Or just getting a win — whether Crosby gets a point or not.
At this stage, the Pens are less concerned about history and just more concerned about a victory of any type.