Jarome Iginla scored 13 seconds into the second period and Nathan MacKinnon, wearing a shield to protect his broken nose, added a goal with his skate for Colorado on a night when Alex Tanguay played in his 1,000th NHL game.
Evgeni Malkin scored the lone goal for the Penguins. The Avalanche are 16-5-6 against Pittsburgh since moving to Denver in 1995-96.
Varlamov played in his 20th straight game and improved to 10-8-2 during the streak. He stymied Sidney Crosby and Malkin — two of the NHL's top scorers — for most of the game, before allowing Malkin's goal off a rebound midway through the third period.
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