Front Range
MacKinnon posts four points as Avalanche score five straight to beat Penguins 5-2
Pittsburgh led 2-0 inside nine minutes at Ball Arena. Colorado answered with five straight goals, three of them in the second period, and T.J. Hughes scored the first goal of his NHL career.
DENVER
Pittsburgh's start was close to perfect. Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring at 8:28 of the first period, and Bryan Rust doubled the lead at 8:57, tipping in a Sidney Crosby pass on a 2-on-1 rush. The two goals came 29 seconds apart, and Colorado was chasing the game almost before it had settled.
Lehkonen got one back at 11:01 of the first, tipping in a feed from MacKinnon off the rush, and the second period flipped the night. Lehkonen tied the game 2-2 just 25 seconds into the period, scoring his second of the game from the doorstep. Gabriel Landeskog put Colorado ahead for good at 4:24, finishing a Brock Nelson pass into the open side of the net, moments after Pittsburgh goaltender Arturs Silovs had stopped a MacKinnon penalty shot.
The Associated Press noted that Landeskog's goal was the 83rd go-ahead goal of his career, tying him with Mikko Rantanen for sixth most in Avalanche history, on a list topped by Joe Sakic with 210. The assist on Rust's goal, meanwhile, was the 1,110th of Crosby's career, moving him into sole possession of seventh place in NHL history, the AP reported.
Hughes made it 4-2 at 14:57 of the second, scoring from the doorstep off a backhand feed from MacKinnon for the first goal of his NHL career. "[It] felt really good," Hughes said, in comments published by the Avalanche. "It was a big goal in a big time of the game, and Nate gave me a great pass." MacKinnon closed the scoring himself on the power play at 15:06 of the third period, a one-timer from the left circle for his sixth goal of the season.
Martin Necas added three assists and Cale Makar two for Colorado. Mackenzie Blackwood, beaten twice in the first nine minutes, stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced, including a breakaway save on Rickard Rakell at 4:59 of the second period that kept Colorado ahead 3-2. Blackwood called Lehkonen "the unsung hero" afterward, in comments published by the Avalanche. Silovs made 27 saves for Pittsburgh, which is 1-4-1 in its last six games, according to Reuters.
Colorado finished 1 for 4 on the power play and killed all three Pittsburgh power plays. The game was the Avalanche debut of assistant coach Brett McLean, who is in charge of the power play unit after Dave Hakstol left to become head coach of the men's hockey program at Arizona State. With the win, Colorado improved to 5-2-1. The Avalanche open a two-game road trip Monday night at Philadelphia, while the Penguins play at Vegas on Saturday night.
