Morning Skate Report: Avs Face Familiar Penguins

PITTSBURGH--For the second time in a week, the Colorado Avalanche faces the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Colorado won 6-3 in the first matchup on Wednesday in Denver behind a four-point performance from Nathan MacKinnon (one goal, three assists). Six different Avalanche players scored in that victory and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves in net.
However, having recent success against the Penguins doesn't change the Avs' mindset going into tonight's game at PPG Paints Arena.

"Sometimes that is how it shakes out with the schedule, you play a certain amount of teams kind of in a short stretch, but that doesn't change our game plan," said veteran defenseman Erik Johnson. "The only thing really different is we are more familiar with them. We watched video from our last game against them as opposed to pre-scouting their last game that they played. We just watched video on what we did against them well, what we didn't do against them well and try and replicate another win."
The Penguins are the second Eastern Conference opponent that the Avs will finish their season series with this year. They did the same with the Pens' rival the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 6 and 22.
Colorado won both games it played against Pittsburgh last year, marking the first time the team has swept a season series of at least two games from the Penguins since 2002-03, and looks to do the same this year.

"They are a dangerous team... They don't need a bunch of chances to hurt you. A lot of dangerous offensive guys on the team and they check hard," head coach Jared Bednar said of the Penguins. "They are a lot to handle in front of the net because they keep getting bodies and traffic to the paint. They have the skill to make plays from below the goal line and down low, and then they got some shooters up top that help too and defensemen that join in the rush so they can attack you a bunch of different ways.
"I liked what we did especially early in [last Wednesday's] game from a defensive standpoint and getting above pucks. We got to make sure that we are on top of that right away today otherwise they will hurt you on the rush as well."
The Avalanche has currently won six straight outings on the road and is 9-0-2 in its last 11 games, the first time since 2006-07 that it has points in that many consecutive outings.
The Avs are 10-4-2 away from the Mile High City this season and has the most away points in the NHL (22). The squad is the second-fastest Colorado team to reach 10 road wins in a season, trailing only the 2013-14 club.
"It's fun, we are having a lot of fun. We have gone on that stretch, and there is still not a ton of separation between a ton of teams in the west," said Johnson. "We got to keep going, and we know we have a lot of wins left to get that we want to keep pushing to the top of our conference and division. Still a lot of work to be done and we are having a lot of fun doing it, hopefully we can keep it going."
Colorado's point streak has pushed its record to 16-6-5 on the season. The team currently sits second in the Western Conference and Central Division with 37 points.

BARRIE BACK IN LINEUP

After missing the last four games with a lower-body injury, defenseman
Tyson Barrie
returns to game action tonight against Pittsburgh.
The 27-year-old leads Avalanche blueliners with 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) through 23 games this campaign.

"It's exciting, obviously nobody likes to miss time and four games felt like a lot longer than that, so it's nice to get healthy and get back in the lineup," Barrie said after morning skate. "A good one tonight against Pittsburgh, it will be fun."
Barrie last played on Nov. 24 against the Dallas Stars.
View: Avalanche Projected Lineup at Penguins

COLE RETURNS TO PITTSBURGH

Tonight's game will be the first one back at PPG Paints Arena for Avs defenseman Ian Cole. He spent parts of four season with the Penguins and won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with the team in 2016 and 2017.
He played in 47 games with the Penguins last year before being traded to the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 23 and then sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 26.
"Obviously I had a lot of history here in Pittsburgh," Cole said after Monday's practice. "I am sure it's going to be probably a little emotional at the time, but I think overall you do your best to kind of treat it like any other game, even though it's not going to be any other game. But, you try your best.
"It's always a little nerve-wracking playing your old team, especially at their rink. So we will see how it goes, hopefully we put together a good game."
Cole has faced the Penguins twice since he was traded last February, but both in a home setting. His most recent tilt against his former club was in Colorado's 6-3 win over Pittsburgh last Wednesday in Denver.