Avalanche at Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have cooled off again after stringing together a season-high four-game winning streak and look to move back in a positive direction when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. The Penguins have lost two of their last three after surrendering three first-period goals en route to a 4-3 home setback against Toronto on Saturday.
“We can’t keep chasing games the way we’re chasing them, and when you play good teams, you can’t spot them a three-goal lead,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan told reporters. “When you give up a couple goals so early in the game, it’s a head-scratcher for me. … That’s something that we, as a group, have to solve if we’re going to become the team we want to be.” Phil Kessel tops the Penguins with 14 goals and 36 points after scoring three times in the last four games while Nathan MacKinnon (11 goals, 33 points) leads Colorado, which snapped its four-game losing streak with a 7-3 triumph at Florida on Saturday. The Avalanche matched their goal total during the slide in one night and hope to build on that as they continue a difficult four-game road trip. “Every line chipped in (Saturday), and we need four lines to contribute if we’re going to make a push here,” MacKinnon told reporters. “And this was a step in the right direction.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, TVA, Altitude (Colorado), AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (13-13-2): Matt Nieto recorded his second three-point performance of the season while Carl Soderberg (goal, assist) and Colin Wilson (goal) also contributed in the big win on Saturday. MacKinnon has recorded five points in his last four games and second-leading scorer Mikko Rantanen has notched four in as many contests to reach 24 on the season. Tyson Barrie is tied for third on the team with 21 points and fellow defenseman Erik Johnson has scored a goal in each of the last two contests, doubling his total for the campaign.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (16-12-3): Patric Hornqvist left Saturday’s game in the third period after getting hit in the head with a puck and was to be re-evaluated on Sunday. The good news on the injury front is that No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray (lower body), who has been out since Oct. 27, has been practicing with the team and is close to returning to the lineup. Captain Sidney Crosby continues to put up points with 16 in his last nine games, while Evgeni Malkin is riding a five-game point streak during which he has notched a pair of goals and four assists.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado RW Nail Yakupov, who has gone without a point in his last six games, was a healthy scratch in the past two.
2. Pittsburgh D Kris Letang, who is fourth on the team with 24 points, has recorded at least one in four straight games (one goal, five assists).
3. The Penguins are 5-1-1 in the last seven meetings but dropped a 4-3 overtime decision at home to the Avalanche last season.