Penguins at Avalanche
Sidney Crosby carries his quest to become the 12th-fastest player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau into Thursday's tilt as the Pittsburgh Penguins open a two-game road trip against the Colorado Avalanche. Crosby notched an assist for his league high-tying 60th point in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss to Calgary to move within two of becoming the 86th player to reach the milestone.
Crosby has recorded 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in his past 11 contests and faces the NHL-worst Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes on the trek, with the struggling clubs residing 30th and 28th, respectively, in goals per game. "One thousand anything is a lot. Getting to 1,000 games is an accomplishment, never mind 1,000 points," said fellow forward Eric Fehr, who has 200 points in his career. Standing in Crosby's way is Colorado, which has answered a nine-game skid by collecting consecutive victories for the first time since Nov. 19-21. Rookie Mikko Rantanen recorded his first career hat trick in a 4-0 rout of Montreal on Tuesday and has five goals and an assist in the past five contests.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NHL.TV, ROOT (Pittsburgh), Altitude (Colorado)
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (33-13-6): Evgeni Malkin worked with Pittsburgh's second power-play unit in Wednesday's practice, but his involvement merely could have been to cover defenseman Kris Letang's absence due to a maintenance day. "It's encouraging," coach Mike Sullivan said of the former Hart Trophy winner, who has missed the last five games due to a lower-body injury. While Malkin accompanied the team on the "Dad's trip," fellow forward Carl Hagelin (concussion) remained behind despite skating Wednesday morning in practice.
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (15-33-2): Captain Gabriel Landeskog increased his point total to three in his first two games this season after his two-goal performance in a 4-3 overtime win over Pittsburgh on Oct. 17, but the ensuing 36 contests saw injuries play a greater role than his production (seven goals, seven assists). Landeskog has shown signs of turning his season around and perhaps upping his trade value with three assists in his last two contests. Calvin Pickard, who made 28 saves in the first meeting with the Penguins, has stopped 50 of 52 shots during Colorado's winning streak to improve to 4-7-1 at home this season.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh LW Chris Kunitz has five points (two goals, three assists) in the last five games.
2. Avalanche C Nathan MacKinnon, who set up two tallies in the first encounter with the Penguins, has three goals and eight assists in his last 13 contests.
3. Letang has one goal and three assists during his three-game point streak.