Nathan MacKinnon collected a goal and three assists to propel the Colorado Avalanche past the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 5-2 victory at Ball Arena on Friday night. Colorado erased an early two-goal deficit by scoring five unanswered tallies to claim the win.
Pittsburgh built an early advantage midway through the opening frame by scoring twice in a 29-second span. Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins on the board with a wrist shot at 8:28, assisted by Ville Koivunen and Erik Karlsson. Bryan Rust doubled the lead at 8:57 on a snap shot set up by Sidney Crosby and Samuel Girard. Colorado responded at 11:01 when Artturi Lehkonen beat the goaltender with a wrist shot off helpers from MacKinnon and Martin Necas.
The Avalanche took control during the second period with three straight goals. Lehkonen tied the contest 25 seconds into the period with a backhand shot, again assisted by MacKinnon and Necas. Gabriel Landeskog gave Colorado its first lead at 4:24, converting a wrist shot on passes from Brock Nelson and Nazem Kadri. T.J. Hughes then collected his first goal of the season at 14:57 on a wrist shot off feeds from MacKinnon and Cale Makar, widening the margin to 4-2.
MacKinnon capped the scoring with a slap shot on the power play at 15:06 of the third period, assisted by Makar and Necas, completing a three-assist night for Necas. Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside 30 of 32 shots in goal for Colorado to earn the victory. At the other end, Arturs Silovs stopped 27 of 32 shots for the Penguins. Colorado went 1 for 4 on the power play, while Pittsburgh failed to convert on three opportunities with the man advantage.
The victory pushed Colorado to a 5-2-1 record on the season. Pittsburgh dropped to 3-4-1 and remained winless in two consecutive games.
Both teams return to the ice on Monday, October 19. The Colorado Avalanche travel to face the Philadelphia Flyers, while the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Utah Mammoth.
