The Avalanche beat the Penguins 5-2 at Ball Arena on Friday night. Nathan MacKinnon had a power-play goal and three assists, and Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, according to the Associated Press. AP also said T.J. Hughes scored his first NHL goal. It said Mackenzie Blackwood "settled in after a shaky start" and stopped 29 shots.
The shaky start was Pittsburgh's. Our box score has the Penguins up 2-0 early, with Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scoring, and Colorado getting one back before the first intermission. The Avalanche then scored three times in the second period and once in the third. Pensburgh's recap and a Yahoo Sports takeaways piece both describe a quick start that Pittsburgh couldn't sustain. The takeaways piece puts it as five unanswered goals.
MacKinnon's night was lopsided in the shot count. He put nine shots on goal and played 22:50, including 5:03 on the power play. Pittsburgh was shut out on four Colorado power plays only once the Avalanche had scored on one. The Penguins were 0-for-3 on their own chances. The shot totals were nearly even, 32 for Colorado and 31 for Pittsburgh, so the gap came from goaltending and finishing. Arturs Silovs stopped 27 of 32 (.844) in his fifth appearance of the season. Blackwood turned away 29 of 31 (.935), though AP's 29 saves differs slightly from our shot count. MacKinnon now has 5 goals and 7 assists in 7 games this season. Colorado is 5-2 and second in the Central Division.
Pensburgh's pregame notes carry a lineup item that none of the other outlets mention. It said Egor Chinakhov "apparently got injured" in Thursday's practice and did not take warmups. That opened a spot for Ville Koivunen, who played 15:46 and had an assist. Elmer Soderblom also returned and played 10:55, with three blocked shots. The report says "apparently," and none of the feed summaries we have gives a diagnosis or a timeline.
Pittsburgh is 3-4, sixth in the Metropolitan Division, and has lost two straight after a 5-3 defeat at Chicago on Tuesday. The Penguins have given up five goals in both losses. They get little rest, with a game at Vegas on Saturday, then at Utah on Monday. Colorado is off until Monday at Philadelphia, having split two games with Dallas earlier in the week.
3-46th in Metropolitan DivisionStreak L2
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