Colorado Avalanche (16-13-0) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (12-13-4)

5pm MT | PPG Paints Arena | View: Height, Height+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

After a perfect matchup, the Avalanche end their road trip in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season as they meet on March 4 in Denver.

Last result (COL): COL 4, NJD 0

Last result (PIT): GOAL 2, PIT 5

A shutout against New Jersey

The Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-0 on Sunday at the Prudential Center. Scott Wedgewood posted a 26-save shutout, Ross Colton scored in his home state and Casey Mittelstadt had two assists. Colton opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season at 4:09 of the first period. Logan O’Connor doubled Colorado’s lead, scoring his fourth goal of the year on a deflection from the slot at 14:52 of the first. Artturi Lehkonen scored his seventh goal of the season, giving the Burgundy and Blue a 3-0 lead with a breakaway goal at 14:36 ​​of midfield. Parker Kelly capped the game with his second goal of the year, scoring empty-net at 16:05 of the third period to give Colorado a 4-0 lead. This win was the Avs’ first shutout win of the season as they improved to 16-13-0.

Colorado’s Contributors

Nate the Great

Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in assists (32) and is third in points (41). He scored five points (2g/3a) on this road trip.

All greetings Cale

Cale Makar leads NHL defensemen in goals (9), assists (26) and points (35). He ranks fifth in assists among all NHL skaters.

Elk crossing

Mikko Rantanen ranks seventh in the NHL in both goals (15) and points (37). He recorded three assists on this road trip.

Guess who’s back?

Colton scored in his second game back from injury and has a plus/minus rating of +2 with five shots on goal since returning.

All aboard!

Valeri Nichushkin has 10 points (6g/4a) in his last nine games, including four points (3g/1a) in his last three.

Medium city mode

In his last two games, Mittelstadt has three assists and a plus/minus rating of +3.

Story

In 43 regular season games so far, the Avalanche are 23-11-9 against the Penguins. Last season the teams split their two matches. In their last meeting in Denver, Jonathan Drouin scored two goals, including an overtime winner that helped the Avs overcome a 4-0 second-half deficit to win 5-4.

Triumphant against Toronto

The Penguins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell opened the scoring with a power play goal at 4:39 of the first period before Mitch Marner scored the equalizer at 6:35 of the first frame. Bryan Rust gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 14:15 of the first period, but the Leafs responded with a power play goal from William Nylander at 2:32 of the second period. Michael Bunting gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead with a power play goal at 5:34 of the third period before they added two shorthanded empty net goals from Blake Lizotte at 19:20 and Kris Letang at 19:34.

Potent against Pittsburgh

MacKinnon has 21 points (8g/13a) in 20 games against the Penguins, including nine points (4g/5a) in his last six games against them.

Devon Toews had eight points (2g/6a) in nine games against Pittsburgh.

In 13 games against the Penguins, Rantanen has 11 points (2g/9a).

Steel City Stars

Sidney Crosby leads the Penguins in assists (19) and points (27).

Evgeni Malkin is second on the team in assists (18) and points (24).

Rakell leads Pittsburgh in goals (11) and is third in points (18).

A numbers game

600

Rantanen is scheduled to play his 600th NHL game tonight. In his first 599 competitions he scored 654 points (277g/377a).

18

MacKinnon scored 18 points (7g/11a) in 17 games against fellow Nova Scotian Crosby.

3

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar is the third-longest active head coach in the NHL, behind Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan in second and Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper in first.

Quote that left its mark

“We played great. Everyone played great. Obviously (Wedgewood) made some great saves. I thought we smothered them pretty well and we created a lot (of chances) as well. It was a good overall performance.”

– Nathan MacKinnon on Sunday’s win against the Devils