Members of the Pittsburgh Penguins weren’t terribly jubilant when management decided to trade starting goaltender Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 12.

Affectionately known as “Jars” by his teammates, Jarry was popular with the Penguins.

Presumably, they were happy seeing Jarry once again Thursday.

At least that’s what one might assume by how often the Penguins scored against Jarry in a 6-2 rout of the Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Jarry stopped 16 of 22 shots as his former employer extended a modest winning streak to three games.

The Penguins’ efforts were buoyed by the somewhat unexpected return of All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who returned to the lineup after missing five games with an undisclosed injury.

Karlsson was placed on injured reserve Jan. 13, and the team initially offered a time frame of two weeks for an initial evaluation. Whatever ailed him apparently required only nine days to convalesce, and he returned to his typical stations on the top defensive pairing as well as on the top power-play unit.

Rookie goaltender Arturs Silovs made 30 saves on 32 shots as his record improved to 9-6-8.

The Penguins raced out to a hiccup-quick three-goal lead by scoring three times over a span of 37 seconds within the first three minutes of regulation.

Forward Anthony Mantha struck first with his 15th goal of the season 140 seconds into play.

Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton gained the offensive blue line on the right wing and offloaded a backhand pass to forward Justin Brazeau along the near wall. Allowing the offensive rush to develop a little bit, Brazeau advanced to the right circle and threaded a clever pass through the skates of Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard to the top of the crease. Largely undetected by the hosts, Mantha slipped in from the left circle and directed the puck past the right skate of Jarry on the near side for his first goal in 11 games. Brazeau and Clifton had assists.

Mantha found the net again only 22 seconds later.

Oilers forward Connor McDavid led a rush into the Penguins’ zone on the left wing and forced a pass to the slot intended for linemate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, only to have it broken up on a poke check by former Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak (part of the return for the Penguins in the Jarry trade). Brazeau claimed the ensuing rebound above the left circle, turned up ice and fed a breakout pass to Mantha. Hitting the afterburners, Mantha (6-foot-5, 240 pounds) pulled away from Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) and generated a breakaway. Upon arrival at the crease, Mantha slid a subtle forehand shot through the five hole of a sprawling Jarry. Brazeau and Kulak claimed assists.

The Penguins went up by a field goal at 2:57 of the first period via forward Sidney Crosby’s team-leading 27th goal.

From the right point of Edmonton’s zone, Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany fed a pass to the opposite point for defensive partner Ryan Shea, who held the puck for a moment before directing a forehand offering to the slot. From between the hashmarks, Crosby adroitly directed the puck past Jarry’s glove. Shea and St. Ivany secured assists.

“We were ready to play from the start,” Crosby said to reporters in Edmonton via audio provided by the Penguins’ media relations department. “Sometimes, it works out that way.”

Oilers defenseman Jake Walman appeared to generate some momentum for his team by scoring his fourth goal while short-handed at 5:19 of the second period.

Penguins forward Egor Chinakhov tried to drive the puck into the offensive zone on the left wing but had his pocket picked by Oilers forward Mattias Janmark. Reversing course and initiating a rush into the Penguins’ zone on the right wing, Janmark offered a drop pass for a trailing Walman. Cruising in toward the upper right hashmark with little resistance, Walman gripped and ripped a wrister past Silovs’ glove. Janmark generated the lone assist.

Any notion of a comeback was euthanized by Penguins forward Rickard Rakell’s ninth goal at 12:29 of the second frame.

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With Silovs pulled for an extra attacker during a delayed penalty, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin controlled a puck on Edmonton’s end boards. Considering his options, Malkin dished a pass to Rakell above the upper left hashmark. Backpedaling a bit, Rakell pumped a wrister by Jarry’s blocker on the near side. St. Ivany, uncharacteristically, offered a stout screen on the sequence. Malkin and forward Bryan Rust registered assists.

Malkin got in on the act with his 12th goal only 118 seconds later.

Off some perimeter movement in the Penguins’ zone, Bouchard dished a clunky pass off the right hal-wallf to the high slot that was into McDavid’s skates. McDavid tried to adjust to the awkward pass but not before a thieving Malkin snatched the puck away and created his own breakaway from the defensive blue line in. Coasting in from the left wing, Malkin cut across the front of the crease and lifted an elegant backhander past the glove of a distressed Jarry. There were no assists.

The Penguins began to really pad their stats 2:50 into the third period with Chinakhov’s eighth goal.

Weaving his way past Oilers rookie forward Matt Savoie in the neutral zone, Penguins forward Tommy Novak gained the offensive blue line at the center point and dished a pass to the left wing for Chinakhov. From the faceoff dot, Chinakhov fired a thunderbolt of a wrister past Jarry’s glove on the near side. The puck had so much velocity, it struck off the back of the net and deflected to the far boards, temporarily causing some players on both teams to assume it hit off the crossbar. Play continued a bit before referee Chris Schlenker pointed to the cage and blew a whistle. Assists went to Novak and St. Ivany.

Savoie capped the scoring at 13:57 of the final frame with his ninth goal.

Lugging the puck from behind his own net through the neutral zone, Bouchard gained the offensive blue line at the center point and tapped a backhand pass to the right wing for Savoie. Sauntering into the near circle, Savoie snapped a rising wrister to the far side past Silovs’ blocker, off the cross bar and into the cage. Bouchard and Ekholm had assists.

“Everyone played really well tonight,” Mantha said. “It was a big team win.”

Notes:

• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was scratched for the second consecutive game due to an undisclosed injury.

• With Karlsson rejoining the active roster, defenseman Ryan Graves was placed on injured reserve due to an unspecified malady.

• Penguins forward Kevin Hayes and rookie defenseman Ilya Solovyov were healthy scratches.

• St. Ivany has four assists in his past two games. Before this two-game outburst, he had three points (all assists) in his first 14 games of the season.

• Chinakhov now has five goals in 12 games since joining the Penguins in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 29. In 29 games with the Blue Jackets, he had only three goals.

• The Penguins allowed a short-handed goal for the sixth time this season. Only the New York Rangers (eight) and Colorado Avalanche (seven) have allowed more.

• During the game, Kulak and Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner, who was also part of the trade on Dec. 12, were recognized on the video board:

• The Penguins won in Edmonton for the first time since claiming a 5-2 victory on Dec. 20, 2019. Jarry made 26 saves on 28 shots in that win.

• Former Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen was scratched due to an undisclosed injury.

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