Canada Olympic teammates face off: Oilers, McDavid take on Penguins, Crosby Thursday

The Oilers will host the Penguins Thursday night before Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby become teammates for Canada at the Winter Olympics.

The Edmonton Oilers have a chance to get back into the win column Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

And not only can the hosts seek a positive National Hockey League result this time out, the matchup will also feature two of the biggest stars slated to wear the Maple Leaf for Canada at next month’s Winter Olympics: the Oilers’ Connor McDavid and the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby.

It’ll be the first Olympics for McDavid, who has been in the National Hockey League since 2015 but has seen the league boycott two of the Games and cancel player participation in another over COVID-19 concerns.

Crosby will participate in his third Olympics. The Penguins captain, a 21-year veteran, scored the memorable overtime ‘golden goal’ for Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Games to beat the U.S. for gold.

“I’m obviously very excited about it,” McDavid told reporters Wednesday after practice. “(Crosby was) my idol growing up, so to be able to play with him and represent our country together on the biggest stage, it’s exciting.”

Kris Knoblauch, talking to media in ‘fan’ mode about the prospect of seeing McDavid and Crosby together on one of hockey’s biggest stages, is excited, too, given the pair have been considered two of the league’s best over the last 20 years.

The link between the two, to Knoblauch, is the hard work that goes along with their talents.

“I don’t think any superstar talent can have the success they have unless they’re driven and they work on their game,” he said on Wednesday.

“For them to be as good as they’ve been for such a long period of time — and you hear a lot about (how) once you hit 30, your talent decreases, and you’re not as dominant as you were when you were 24 — you look at the season Sid’s having (26 goals, 30 assists for 56 points in 49 games), he’s 38. McDavid’s having one of his best seasons at 29 (30 goals, 55 assists for 85 points in 51 games). They work on their craft, and they also take care of themselves, and that’s remarkable.”

Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils ended a two-game-winning run for the Oilers (25-18-8), who had come into that game having shut out both their weekend opponents.

Goalie Tristan Jarry stopped 15 Devils shots in his Oilers’ home debut.

McDavid came into the game with at least one point in all 17 of his career games against the Devils — seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points, to be exact — but was held off the scoresheet.

The Penguins (24-14-11) will be playing their second game in as many nights after beating the Flames 4-1 in Calgary on Wednesday. Former Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 18 shots in the Pittsburgh net for his sixth win in seven starts.

Arturs Silovs is expected to start in net for Pittsburgh against Edmonton. The Oilers will go back to Jarry in goal for the second game in a row, Koblauch said after Thursday’s morning skate.

The Oilers beat the Penguins in Pittsburgh 6-4 on Dec. 16 in Skinner’s debut with his new team after being traded for Jarry.

The Oilers beat the Penguins in Pittsburgh 6-4 on Dec. 16 in Skinner’s debut with his new team after being traded for Jarry.

The Penguins have points in five straight games (3-0-2) and are 9-2-2 in their last 13 games.

The Oilers have yet to win more than two games in a row all season. Tuesday’s loss marked the ninth time during the 2025-26 NHL campaign they failed to extend a winning streak to three games.

Oilers forward Jack Roslovic said the lack of a winning run of more than two games this season is a “stat that is a reflection of us,” saying finding more consistency is a key to perhaps pushing the team to a prolonged run.

“It’s the little lapses here and there that can be prevented,” Roslovic told media after Thursday’s morning skate. “We’ve just got to start to clean up.”

Projected Oilers lineup

Forward

• Ryan Nugent-Hopkins • Connor McDavid • Zach Hyman
• Isaac Howard • Jack Roslovic • Matt Savoie
• Mattias Janmark • Curtis Lazar • Andrew Mangiapane
• Vasily Podkolzin • Trent Frederic

Defence

• Mattias Ekholm • Evan Bouchard
• Darnell Nurse • Ty Emberson
• Jake Walman • Spencer Stastney
• Alec Regula

Goal

• Tristan Jarry • Connor Ingram

Projected Penguins lineup

Forward

• Rickard Rakell • Sidney Crosby • Bryan Rust
• Egor Chinakhov • Tommy Noval • Evgeni Malkin
• Anthony Mantha • Ben Kindel • Justin Brazeau
• Connor Dewar • Blake Lizotte • Noel Acciari

Defence

• Parker Wotherspoon • Brett Kulak
• Ryan Shea • Jack St. Ivany
• Ryan Graves • Connor Clifton

Goal

• Arturs Silovs • Stuart Skinner

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