Hornqvist, Murray power Penguins past Avalanche
DENVER -- Patric Hornqvist scored two goals, Matthew Murray had 27 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 on Thursday night.
Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby didn't record a point and remains at 998 for his career. He'll next try to become the 86th player to reach the 1,000-point mark when the Penguins play at Arizona on Saturday night.
Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist, Chris Kunitz scored into an empty net and Justin Schultz and Matt Cullen had two assists apiece for Pittsburgh (34-13-6). The Penguins moved a point ahead of Columbus into second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and Calvin Pickard stopped 26 shots for the Avalanche (15-34-2). Colorado, which had its modest two-game winning streak stopped, avoided being shut out for the ninth time.
Crosby, who is tied for the NHL lead in points with 60, is poised to hit the milestone in fewer games than any of the seven active players who reached the mark. He will accomplish that if he gets it before his 763rd game. He played his 754th game Thursday.
He had two shots Thursday and missed an empty net from the blue line with 1:40 left.
Crosby's linemate, Bryan Rust, left the game in the second period after crashing into Pickard on a scoring chance.
Landeskog's 10th goal at 16:44 spoiled Murray's shutout bid.
The Penguins took a 1-0 lead when Kessel scored on an odd-man rush at 4:01 of the first. Matt Cullen got the puck off a neutral zone turnover and fed Kessel, who beat Pickard through the pads for this 18th goal of the season.
Hornqvist made it 2-0 at 3:50 of the second when he scored 13 seconds into Pittsburgh's third power-play chance of the night.
MacKinnon hit his second post of the game a few minutes later when he came in alone on Murray.
Another Avalanche turnover led to Hornqvist's second goal at 18:38 of the second and gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead.
NOTES: Penguins F Evgeni Malkin missed his sixth straight game with a lower-body injury but could return Saturday at Arizona. Malkin took part in Thursday's morning skate and coach Mike Sullivan said he is making progress. Malkin was fifth in the NHL in scoring with 54 points entering Thursday. ... Avalanche D Tyson Barrie missed his seventh game in the last nine because of a lower-body injury. ... Pittsburgh F Carl Hagelin remains in the concussion protocol but could join the team on the two-game road trip. ... Colorado F Rene Bourque (head) missed his sixth game in the last eight. ... Avalanche F Matt Nieto was in the lineup after leaving Tuesday's game when he took a shot on the calf.