Maybe it was because of the matchup between Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Maybe it was because the Pittsburgh Penguins put on a show in the first period with four goals and brought some excitement to the ice against a really good team that had been one of the hottest in the NHL entering play on Thursday night.
Maybe it was a combination of the two things.
Whatever the case, there seemed to be some real juice in PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night for the Penguins’ 5-3 win over the Oilers, which has not always been the case this season.