Game Preview: Avalanche vs. Penguins

COLORADO AVALANCHE (41-22-6) VS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (34-26-10)
6 PM MT | BALL ARENAWATCH: TNTLISTEN: 92.5FM/950 AM
The Colorado Avalanche will be seeking their seventh straight win when they face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday evening. The Avalanche fell to the Penguins in overtime 2-1 when the teams played at PPG Paints Arena on February 7.

LAST TIME OUT

Colorado dominated their Central Divison opponent, the Chicago Blachawks, 5-0 Monday night at Ball Arena. Defenseman Kurtis MacDermid scored his first goal of the season, while center Denis Malgin found the back of the net twice and forward Mikko Rantanen tallied his 47th goal of the season. Forward Logan O'Connor recorded his eighth goal of the season and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev stopped all 27 shots he faced for his fifth shutout of the season.
Pittsburgh lost to the Ottawa Senators 2-1, also on Monday night. Forward Rickard Rakell scored the Penguins' lone goal. Goalie Tristan Jarry turned away 19 of the 21 shots that came his way.

HISTORY

The Avs are now 44-36-13 all-time mark versus Pittsburgh, which includes a 22-9-9 record since the franchise moved to Denver.

CONNECTIONS

Center Evan Rodrigues spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins - seven games during the 2019-20 season, 35 during the 2020-21 season and 82 during the 2021-22 season. During that span Rodrigues accumulated 27 goals and 31 assists.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS

Captain Sidney Crosby paces Pittsburgh with 83 points (29g/54a) in 70 games played. Center Evgeni Malkin is second on the team with 73 points (24g/49a), also in 70 contests.

LINEUP UPDATES

Avalanche

Pavel Francouz Lower body
Darren HelmLower body
Erik Johnson Lower body
Gabriel LandeskogLower body
Artturi Lehkonen Upper body
Cale MakarLower body
Josh MansonLower body
Evan RodriguesUpper body

Penguins

Nick BoninoUpper body
Dmitry Kulikov Lower body
Jeff PetryUpper body
Marcus PetterssonLower body
Jan RuttaLower body

DOING THE MOST

Center Nathan MacKinnon is the team's active leader in points against PIttsburgh, with 17 (7g/10a) in 17 appearances. Forward Gabriel Landeskog is second with 15 (7g/8a) in 15 games played.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

Goaltender Casey DeSmith is 2-0-0 all-time against the Avalanche, with a .954 sV% and a 1.94 GAA. Center Evgeni Malkin leads the team in career points against Colorado with 21 (8g/13a) in 19 appearances.

STATS FOR KEEPS

Name | GP | GS | Record (W-L-OT) | GAA
Colorado
Pavel Francouz | 15 | 15 | 7-7-1 | 2.53
Alexandar Georgiev | 51 | 51 | 32-14-5 | 2.53
Jonas Johansson | 2 | 1 | 1-0-0 | 2.88
Keith Kincaid | 1 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 2.15
Pittsburgh
Casey DeSmith | 34 | 29 | 13-14-4 | 3.12
Tristan Jarry | 39 | 39 | 20-10-6 | 3.01

NUMBERS GAME

59

Nathan MacKinnon recorded an assist Monday night to reach 59 this season, a new career high. He surpassed his previous best (58) set three times (last: 2019-20).

5

Alexandar Georgiev's shutout on Monday was his fifth of the season, which is tied for the most in the league with Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and former Avalanche and current Washington Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper.

33-7-4

Colorado scored the first goal of the game for the 69th time this season and is 33-7-4 when notching the first goal of the game, the third-most wins in the NHL when scoring first.

QUOTE(S) THAT LEFT A MARK

"He's been playing well. Obviously, he's one of the best goalies in the league right now and it's fun as a D to know when he's between the pipes. He's so good. He's very calm in his net as well, so it's fun to watch him right now." - Defenseman Samuel Girard on goaltender Alexandar Georgiev