Colorado Orchestrates Comeback Against Pittsburgh

The Penguins built a 4-0 lead against one of the NHL’s best teams on Sunday in Colorado, but the Avalanche scored five unanswered to win the game in overtime.

“Thought we competed hard, you know? That's one of the most explosive offenses in the league that we played against,” Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan said. “We knew they were going to push back. We competed hard all night.”

Sidney Crosby factored in on all of Pittsburgh’s goals with a four-point night (1G-3A), while Jesse Puljujarvi, Bryan Rust, and P.O Joseph – getting his first of the year – also scored for the Penguins.

Alex Nedeljkovic left with 14:46 to play in the third period after making contact with Casey Mittlestadt in the process of making a save. After being checked on by Penguins Head Athletic Trainer Chris Stewart, he remained in the game for a short while before heading down the runway and getting replaced by Tristan Jarry.

Following Nathan MacKinnon’s tying goal with 4:38 remaining in regulation, Nedeljkovic returned to action and played the rest of the afternoon.

“Just got bumped… Ears rang a little bit and it went away. By the time Stu got out there, everything was fine, so just precautionary more than anything,” Nedeljkovic said. “(The NHL’s concussion spotter) took me out and just had to do a few tests and everything, so that was it. Just an aggressive play. I mean, he's coming down on his offside and kind of had it read he was gonna pull it to his forehand, so I tried anticipating it, and it just missed.”

Nedeljkovic didn’t see a lot of action early, as the Penguins put together an excellent first period of play. They were buzzing from the drop of the puck, and despite going shorthanded early, the Penguins managed to gain momentum from an early Colorado power play with a huge penalty kill.

It ended with Puljujarvi coming out of the box with some energy, and he put the Penguins on the board first. Crosby's assist on the goal was his 70th point of the season, making him the first active player, and ninth player in NHL history, to record 14 or more 70-point campaigns

Rust then scored a gorgeous goal on a terrific individual effort in the final minutes of the opening frame, sending Pittsburgh into the intermission with a 2-0 lead and a 16-4 edge in shots. The Penguins couldn’t have asked for much more when it came to their start, especially on the road.

While Nedeljkovic got much busier in the second period, he battled just like he always does, allowing his team to go the other way and find two more goals – one from Crosby on a beautiful re-direct, and one from Joseph on a shot through traffic – to take that 4-0 lead at the 15:40 mark. The game turned from there, with Colorado scoring twice before the horn sounded to end the middle frame.

“We didn't keep our feet moving. I think we kind of started watching a little bit. We gave them an inch and they took advantage of every bit of space they got,” Lars Eller said. “We didn't do a good enough job of playing without the puck. (The takeaway is) that we’re capable of playing really good hockey for almost two periods, or half a game. So, if you can do it for 30 minutes, I think you can do it for 60. But for whatever reason, we didn't do that today.”

Jonathan Droiun got his first of the game before Nedeljkovic left, and then ended up scoring the overtime winner just 54 seconds in.

“Probably they had four chances on me, and they scored four goals. It’s not enough,” said Nedeljkovic, who saw 25 shots while Jarry saw five. “We played good enough to win that game. I mean, they’re a really good hockey team. To hold them to four shots in the first period, to be up 4-0 with four to play in the second period and not come away with two points, it's pretty disappointing.”

The Penguins finish their two-game road trip to Dallas and Colorado having dropped both games. They will return home and regroup ahead of hosting Carolina on Tuesday.

“We've got to take the same approach we've taken here all along. We’re trying to win the game right in front of us,” Sullivan said.

NOTE: Noel Acciari left the game late in the first, came back in the second, but did not play in the third. Sullivan said afterward the forward is being evaluated for a lower-body injury.