PITTSBURGH — They get no moral victory for this one. The Penguins were simply outclassed.
Led by Nathan MacKinnon, the former Hart Trophy runner-up, the Avalanche were clearly the better team in Tuesday’s 6-4 win over the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Some of the stats may suggest otherwise. But you know it when you see it.
The Avalanche were clearly the bigger, faster, more disciplined team this time.
And so for the second time in four days, the Penguins fell to the top team in the NHL standings and betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup this spring.
Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Jason Zucker (16) skates against Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson (71) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, in Las Vegas.
Saturday afternoon in Denver, the Penguins lost, 3-2, to the Avalanche. Despite that setback, coach Mike Sullivan was proud of how the Penguins performed.
In that showcase game, they fired 40 shots on goal and had more looks from the slot and offensive-zone puck possession. But they were done in by twice allowing goals on the shift that directly followed a tying tally for the Penguins.
Asked after that game what, if anything, would need to change Tuesday when they hosted the rematch at PPG Paints Arena, Sullivan quipped, “The result.”
The first period looked a lot like the one three days earlier, with a fast pace of play, end-to-end action and the Penguins firing a bunch of pucks at Darcy Kuemper. They put 20 shots on goal in the period but the score was tied, 1-1, after one.
The Avalanche struck first less than three minutes into the game. Bryan Rust tried to break up MacKinnon’s backdoor feed but accidentally poked the puck into his own net. Rust found redemption on his next shift, though, ripping a shot past Kuemper after the Avalanche goalie booted a bouncy rebound right to him.
The Avalanche regrouped and started to pull away from the Penguins in the second, and it was on the powerful legs of MacKinnon and his hulking linemates.
That trio generated chance after chance after chance, whether it was on the cycle game or off the rush. Tristan Jarry made a sharp save on All-Star defenseman Cale Makar. Moments later, he stuffed winger Andre Burakovsky on his doorstep after MacKinnon pulled up on the rush and started a tic-tac-toe sequence.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Jeff Carter (77) reacts during a break in play in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers, Friday, March 25, 2022, in New York.
J.T. Compher capitalized on the momentum created by another strong shift for the MacKinnon line and put the Avalanche up, 2-1. Rookie Alex Newhook beat Marcus Pettersson, back in the lineup after he was a healthy scratch in Saturday’s loss, wide and no one was there to clean up the rebound that Jarry left behind.
Just over two minutes later, MacKinnon made it 3-1. His other big winger, Mikko Rantanen, hit him with a pass in the high slot. Then MacKinnon nonchalantly flicked a fade-away past Jarry, who appeared to be screened on the scoring play.
Evan Rodrigues got the Penguins back within a goal with just over two minutes left in the second period. He got a step on the defense and drove the net. Kuemper made the initial save then a mosh pit ensued. Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews, trying to pry the puck off the goal line, accidentally poked it in his net.
For the slumping Rodrigues, that goal was just the third in the last 38 games.
Just 61 seconds into the third, Josh Manson restored a two-goal lead for Colorado. Toews looped behind the Pittsburgh net then passed the puck out to his defensive partner, whose shot from the point made it through four bodies and in.
Midway through the period, with the Avalanche on the counterattack, MacKinnon put a pass on a platter for Burakovsky. Jarry, who has excelled on odd-man rushes all season, read the play and shuffled across to keep the score at 4-2.
But Darren Helm later scored on a partial breakaway to put the game away. Jake Guentzel and Mike Matheson scored at 6-on-5 to make it look less lopsided.
The Avalanche were again without Nazem Kadri, one of their leading scorers, and captain Gabriel Landeskog. But on this night, MacKinnon was enough.
Often matched up against Sidney Crosby’s line, MacKinnon finished the game with two goals, four hits and a takeaway. You felt him out there every shift.
The loss continued a flummoxing stretch for the Penguins, filled with more ebbs and flows. Prior to Thursday, they had been 10-8-2 in their last 20 games. Over that span, they had won just five of their 13 games against playoff squads with losses to talented teams such as Colorado, Carolina, Florida and Toronto.
This unrelenting stretch of the schedule will continue Thursday when the Penguins head to New York to face a Rangers that has beaten them twice in a row.
