Sidney Crosby doesn’t have many options for off-season training partners who perform at a demanding NHL level in his hometown – actually, his hometown – of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.

But the Pittsburgh Penguins captain has a pretty good option.

Maybe for the best.

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon, the other superstar in their small community, keeps Crosby busy during some heated skating sessions on the Atlantic coast.

“Obviously that’s good for me, just because of how fast he is and how skilled he is and everything he does,” Crosby said Monday in Cranberry. “It’s good to have to compete against someone like that every day. For me it’s great.”

Tuesday’s match between the two teams didn’t go particularly well for Crosby and the Penguins, as they were defeated 6-2 by MacKinnon and the Avalanche at PPG Paints Arena.

Crosby went without a point, while MacKinnon had a goal and four assists.

MacKinnon opened the scoring with his 10th goal of the season 6 minutes and 31 seconds into regulation time.

As Penguins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk wedged himself in the right spot in the Colorado zone, Avalanche forward Rantanen pushed the puck into the neutral zone. MacKinnon darted after him to win the ball, pushed it forward and captured the Penguins’ zone on the left wing.

After deflecting a potential cross-ice pass to linemate Artturi Lehkonen, MacKinnon whipped a wrist shot to the other side that ricocheted off goaltender Tristan Jarry’s left sleeve and hit the Twine.

Rantanen’s 16th goal came at 18:22 of the first period.

Lehkonen drove the puck into the offensive zone on the right wing, circled it behind the cage to the left corner, but lost the puck thanks to a stick check from Penguins defenseman Kris Letang. Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar carefully recovered the puck in the left circle, circled around Letang and pushed a clever short-range pass across the goal crease past Penguins forward Rickard Rakell. Rantanen went from backhand to forehand, backhand to forehand, and hit a wrister over Jarry’s right skate.

Another goal from Rantanen gave the Avalanche the lead on a field goal at 5:46 of the second period.

After Penguins forward Anthony Beauvillier failed to clear a puck from his own slot, Avalanche defenseman Calvin de Haan controlled it at center point. For a moment, de Haan considered his options and pushed a pass into the bottom right circle, where Rantanen hit a one-timer from a bad angle that bounced off Jarry’s glove and found a gap between his wrist and left hip on the other side .

Forward Cody Glass scored his first goal of the season and first as a member of the Penguins at 7:21 of the second frame.

Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski attempted to deflect a puck behind his cage from the right boards but was intercepted by Letang, who then unloaded a pass into the slot for Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin. Malkin retreated slightly toward the left circle and pushed the puck to create space in the right circle for Glass, who fired a wrister through goaltender Scott Wedgewood’s fifth hole.

It became a one-score game as Penguins forward Michael Bunting scored his seventh goal at 18:53 of the middle period.

Deep in Colorado’s left corner, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson tied up a puck, turned right and distributed a pass into the slot for Bunting, who lofted a wrister over Wedgewood’s blocker.

Goals from striker Valeri Nichushkin (his seventh at 3:23) and Lehkonen (his eighth at 12:21) in the third period ended any thought of a comeback by the hosts. Rantanen completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 15:08 of the final frame.

Jarry unofficially made 21 saves on 26 shots, dropping his record to 5-4-1.

Notes: Penguins backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was unavailable for portions of the first and second periods after he was hit under the right eye by a puck while sitting on the home bench at 12:02 of the opening period. About three minutes into the second half, he returned to the bench with a welt under his right eye. … Penguins forward Philip Tomasino returned to the lineup after missing a game with an undisclosed injury.