Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scores first as Edmonton Oilers overtake Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in Shootout-NHL
Edmonton Oilers certainly did not hold back on their first home game of the new 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, as their top entry draft pick, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his first to overpower Pittsburgh Penguins, 2-1, in a shootout at the sold-out Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
After being drafted as the first overall earlier in June by Edmonton, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a great player, but it was uncertain whether he would be playing with his original draft team or not in the upcoming season.
Now in his first NHL appearance ever, Nugent-Hopkins did not fail to impress, which could have him on the team for more games than previously expected.
"Going into the game I was really nervous, but I tried to use that to my advantage", said Nugent-Hopkins. "It felt pretty good. ... It was really exciting".
Pittsburgh Penguins played without their star centre player, Evgeni Malkin, who up until the pregame practice session appeared fine but left later on with an unconfirmed lower body injury.
Kris Letang took charge in place of Malkin and scored the opening goal for Pittsburgh 3:13 into the initial period on their first power play opportunity of the match as Linus Omark served an early penalty awarded to Edmonton for too many men on the ice.
Edmonton managed to kill off three straight penalties in the third period which nearly resulted in Penguins extending their lead.
Having a lot of players on the line-up playing for the first time, Edmonton Oilers head coach, Tom Renney, was not expecting too much, but was thrilled at the result.
"It was hormone hockey", Renney said. "I guess you have to expect that. Our team hadn't played in a while and we had some guys playing their first ever NHL regular-season game. They were almost over-excited. We turned the puck over a number of times in the first two periods. But we started to play a little better and started to share the puck better".
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the equaliser late in the final period with 4:55 remaining until the last buzzer, to force an overtime extension and give the home team another chance.
After a scoreless overtime, a shootout decider was inevitable. Jordan Eberle and Ales Hemsky scored on two out of three attempts for Edmonton while Pittsburgh’s, James Neal, made the only for his team as Oilers were declared the winner.
Edmonton faces Minnesota Wild on Thursday, while Pittsburgh Penguins return home to host Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
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