Carter, Crosby help Penguins defeat Avalanche to end 4-game losing streak

DENVER -- Jeff Carter scored twice, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won 5-2 against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

Carter hadn't scored since Feb. 26, ending an 11-game goal drought.
"I think you've got to be playing your best hockey when you go into the postseason," Carter said. "Obviously, you want to be locked in as early as possible, but sometimes when you go to battle for your lives that kind of gives you a boost and you keep going with it."

Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (35-26-10), who had lost four straight. Tristan Jarry made 28 saves.
Sidney Crosby also scored, giving him 30 goals for an 11th season. The 35-year-old is the first player in NHL history to have a 30-goal season at the age of 18 and again over the age of 35.
Pittsburgh moved back into the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Florida Panthers.
"I just thought it was a solid effort, top to bottom, right through our lineup," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought guys competed hard. We were paying the price to win. I thought some of the shot blocks late in the game were an indication of the urgency, the compete that we had tonight against a really good hockey team."
Alexandar Georgiev made 40 saves, and J.T. Compher had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (41-23-6), who had won six straight.
Colorado remained in third place in the Central Division, two points behind the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild.
"It's a big moment for our team, right? We have a chance to go first in the division, so we knew they were going to play with urgency," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Twelve games left, sitting out of the spot by one point, I think. But I didn't feel like there's any reason why we couldn't either. There's advantages to finishing first, and that's what we're trying to track down. It's an opportunity for us tonight. We didn't get it done. Hopefully we get another one."
Crosby gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 1:11 of the second period. He turned Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard inside out before roofing a backhand from the right circle over the blocker of Georgiev.
"I think the most important thing for me is just try to be consistent, and if that reflects that, great," Crosby said. "But I just love to compete and I want to be as consistent as possible. We executed pretty good. We still had some opportunities to add to the lead, and it's one of those things that you're trying to find that balance between staying aggressive and not taking risks and making mistakes."

This is his 11th 30-goal season, tying Mario Lemieux for the most in Penguins history.
"It means I've been in the League for a while, but like I said, I think that's been the thing that's driven me since since I got into the League," Crosby said. "In your first year, you want to prove that you belong, and even at 35, I still think you want to prove like you belong because it is a younger league. And you just want to continue to make sure that your game is where it needs to be, and that's what I've tried to do. I've been fortunate enough to play with some pretty good players in that span. So I think that that goes a long way too."
Guentzel extended the lead to 2-0 at 4:06 during a 5-on-3 power play, batting in his own rebound in front.
"Defending champs, coming to their building, and you know how good they are," Guentzel said. "We got to do whatever gets points, and these are big points for us now. And we got another one big tomorrow (at the Dallas Stars), so any points are big for us right now."
Compher cut it to 2-1 at 11:35 when he skated down the slot and roofed a pass from Valeri Nichushkin from behind the net.
"If you look at the first goal we got, we just laid it in and went to work on the forecheck, turned the puck over, bang bang it was in the back of the net. But we didn't do it enough," Bednar said. "I felt like we got a little bit stubborn. You got to trust our guys' skill and their ability to make plays off the rush, but when it's not working, I thought we could turn the page a little bit earlier to get on the attack, using our legs on the forecheck, and trying to get some o-zone time."
Carter made it 3-1 on a power play at 14:12 when he one-timed a cross-crease pass from Rust.
Toews cut the lead to 3-2 with his own power-play goal at 10:28 of the third period, one-timing a pass from Compher five-hole on Jarry.
Carter responded to push it to 4-2 at 12:51 when he redirected a point shot from Brian Dumoulin from just outside the crease.
"It's unbelievable," Guentzel said. "You just want to see guys produce and do well. Obviously, two huge goals by 'Carts' there. Just an unbelievable pass by 'Dumo' on that one. So four lines contributing today, and that's what it takes."

Rust scored into an empty net at 19:41 for the 5-2 final.
NOTES: Carter scored his 88th game-winning goal in the NHL, second to Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (124) for the most among active players. ... Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (six goals, 11 assists) and his home point streak to 18 games (14 goals, 15 assists).