PIITSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Mar. 20: Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1 – PPG Paints Arena
PIT Goals: Rakell
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (19 saves, 21 shots)
Key Stats: Rickard Rakell extended his goal scoring streak against Ottawa to six games.
PP: 0-3
PK: 1-2
Mar. 18: NY Rangers 6, Pittsburgh 0 – MSG
PIT Goals: None
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (13 saves, 17 shots), DeSmith (5 saves, 7 shots) Key Stats: Pittsburgh was shut out for just the second time this season.
PP: 0-5
PK: 3-4
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
F Nick Bonino Kidney 6 6
D Dmitry Kulikov Lower-Body 4 4
D Jeff Petry Upper-Body 2 18
D Jan Rutta Undisclosed 2 17
D Marcus Pettersson Undisclosed 1 3
2022-23 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 167
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Date Transaction
Mar. 20 D Taylor Fedun recalled from WBS (AHL).
Mar. 20 D Marcus Pettersson placed on long-term injured reserve.
Mar. 18 D Mark Friedman recalled from WBS (AHL).
Mar. 18 F Nick Bonino placed on long-term injured reserve.
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Avalanche: 42-42-9
In Pittsburgh: 23-20-6
In Colorado: 19-22-3
OT Record vs. Avalanche: 7-4-6
Shootout Record vs. Avalanche: 1-0
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh is 1-0-0.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. AVALANCHE:
Mario Lemieux – 33GP, 66 PTS (30G-36A)
Jaromir Jagr – 28GP, 36 PTS (18G-18A)
Kevin Stevens – 19GP, 31 PTS (16G-15A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
- The Penguins hit the road as they head to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena (TV: TNT, Sportsnet; Radio: 105.9 The X).
- The Penguins have points in 10 of their last 16 games against the Avalanche (9-6-1) dating back to Apr. 6, 2014.
- Pittsburgh is 6-4-0 in its last 10 visits to Ball Arena.
- Pittsburgh is 17-10-0 against Western Conference opponents at home this season.
QUICK HITS
1) The Penguins are 10-1-0 versus the Central Division this season and have outscored their opponents 41-21. No team has allowed fewer goals against Central Division opponents this season than Pittsburgh.
COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:
UPCOMING GAMES
Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Wed, Mar. 22 PITTSBURGH 6 p.m. TNT 92.5 FM
Fri, Mar. 25 ARIZONA 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM
Sun, Mar. 26 at Arizona 1 p.m. Altitude, NHLN 92.5 FM
Mon, Mar. 27 at Anaheim 8 p.m. Altitude 2 950 AM
TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO AVALANCHE (41-22-6, 88 PTS) vs. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (34-26-10, 78 PTS) 6:07 p.m. – Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
TNT / Altitude Radio (92.5 FM)
The Colorado Avalanche continues their three-game homestand tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ball Arena … The Avs, who opened the home stay with a 5-0 victory over the Blackhawks on Monday, have won six straight games, the longest active win streak in the league and tied for the club’s longest winning streak of the season … It’s the third time the Avs have won six-in-a-row this season, all since the calendar flipped to 2023 … Only Boston (four) has more 6+ game winning streaks in 2022-23 … Colorado is 13-3-1 in its last 17 contests and 21-5-3 (.776) in its last 29 games, tied with the Bruins (22-6-1) for the NHL’s best record since January 14 … The Avs are 10-3-2 in their last 15 home games and 11-2-1 in their last 14 road contests … Colorado is in a busy stretch of 15 contests in 26 days from March 4-29.
ON THE CALL
TNT: Kenny Albert (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst), Keith Jones (analyst)
Altitude Radio: Conor McGahey
LAST GAME
March 20 – Colorado 5, Chicago 0 at Ball Arena
Denis Malgin scored twice and had an assist and Alexandar Georgiev stopped all 27 shots he faced in the Avalanche’s 5-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Ball Arena … Mikko Rantanen tallied a goal and one assist, Logan O’Connor also scored and Kurtis MacDermid notched the game winner.
SF: 32 SA: 27 PP: 1-1 PK: 2-2
The Avalanche extended their win streak to six games, matching a season high … The Avs are 13-3-1 in their last 17 games and a league-best 21-5-3 (.776) in their last 29 contests
MacKinnon extended his point streak to nine games (6g/10a), tying his season high … He extended his home point streak to 17 games (14g/14a)
MacKinnon’s assist was his 59th of the season, a new career high
Rantanen scored a goal for the fifth straight game and extended his point streak to eight contests (6g/7a)
Malgin recorded his first career three-point game … His two goals tied a personal best set Jan. 25, 2018 vs. Washington
O’Connor and Malgin scored 14 seconds apart in the third period, the fastest two goals by the Avalanche this season Georgiev’s shutout was his fifth of the season, tied for the league lead … It was his 32nd win of the year, tied for second in the NHL
Georgiev is 16-3-2 in his last 21 starts (2.21 GAA, .927 Sv%) and 11-2-1 in his last 14 games (2.12 GAA, .925 Sv%) … His 16 wins since Jan. 18 and 11 wins since Feb. 15 both lead all netminders
The Avalanche’s power-play unit scored for the eight consecutive games, matching their longest streak of the season set Nov. 10-26 … The Avs are 10-for-26 (38.5%) during this stretch
CURRENT INJURIES
Pavel Francouz – lower body (Feb. 14 – present)
Darren Helm – lower body (Jan. 14 – present)
Erik Johnson – ankle (Feb. 14 – present)
Gabriel Landeskog – knee (Oct. 12 – present)
Artturi Lehkonen – finger (March 15 – present)
Cale Makar – lower body (March 20 – present)
Josh Manson – lower body (March 4 – present)
Evan Rodrigues – head (March 22 – present)
Total Man-Game Lost: 395
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Mar. 14 – Alex Galchenyk recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
The Avalanche and Penguins wrap up the season series with the second and final meeting of 2022-23 …. Pittsburgh won the first matchup 2-1 in overtime on Feb. 7 at PPG Paints Arena … Colorado swept the season series a year ago …. The Avs are 5-1-3 in the last nine matchups with the Pens.
SCHEDULE vs. PENGUINS
Feb. 7 @ Pittsburgh (O, 1-2)
Mar. 22 vs. PITTSBURGH
RECORD vs. PENGUINS
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME SINCE 1995-96 PLAYOFFS
Overall: 0-0-1 Overall: 2-0-0 Overall: 44-36-13 Overall: 22-9-9 Series: None
Home: — Home: 1-0-0 Home: 23-16-5 Home: 10-4-5
Road: 0-0-1 Road: 1-0-0 Road: 21-20-8 Road: 12-5-4
EAST SIDE STORY
The Avalanche are 18-10-3 against Eastern Conference teams this year … Colorado finished 22-8-2 against the East last year, its most wins and tied for its most points (46) ever against the other conference… Since Jared Bednar was hired in 2016-17, the Avs are 108-64-18 (.616) against the Eastern Conference, which includes a 61-24-9 (.697) mark since 2019-20, the best record of any Western Conference team over the last four seasons.
FIRST AND FOREMOST
The Avalanche have scored the first goal of the game on 44 occasions this year, the most of any team … The Avs have lit the lamp first in 44 of their 69 games (64%) … Colorado is 33-7-4 when scoring first, the third-most wins when potting the first goal behind Carolina and Boston (both 35).
