Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche
· National Hockey League
Nathan MacKinnon has goal and 3 assists, Artturi Lehkonen scores twice as Avs beat Penguins 5-2
T.J. Hughes scored his first NHL goal, while Mackenzie Blackwood settled in after a shaky start to stop 29 shots.
Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead after scoring 29 seconds apart midway through the first period. The Avalanche erupted for five straight tallies, including three in the second period.
Colorado finished 1 of 4 on the power play in the Avalanche debut of assistant coach Brett McLean. He's in charge of the unit after Dave Hakstol left to take over as head coach of the men's hockey program at Arizona State.
Lehkonen's second goal tied it 25 seconds into the second period. Captain Gabriel Landeskog had a goal nearly four minutes later for his 83rd career go-ahead score. He's tied with Mikko Rantanen for sixth-most in Avalanche history. Hall of Famer Joe Sakic tops the list with 210.
Hughes got free down low and poked in a pass from MacKinnon. He was hugged by Cale Makar and then playfully squirted with water by Landeskog as Hughes made his way past the bench.
Sidney Crosby notched his 1,110th career assist to move into sole possession of seventh place in NHL history. He's also one assist shy of matching Ray Bourque (1,111 with Boston) for the most in league history with a one franchise.
MacKinnon improved to 12-6-3 when playing against Crosby, his good buddy from Nova Scotia. MacKinnon was awarded a penalty shot, but was stopped by Arturs Silovs.
Avalanche: Two-game road swing starting Monday night at Philadelphia.
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Regular Season SeriesCOL leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 8:28 | Evgeni Malkin Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Ville Koivunen (2), Erik Karlsson (8) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 8:57 | Bryan Rust Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Sidney Crosby (3), Samuel Girard (6) |
 |
Goal | 1st Period 11:01 | Artturi Lehkonen Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Nathan MacKinnon (8), Martin Necas (4) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 0:25 | Artturi Lehkonen Goal (6) Backhand, assists: Nathan MacKinnon (9), Martin Necas (5) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 4:24 | Gabriel Landeskog Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Brock Nelson (4), Nazem Kadri (6) |
|
Goal | 2nd Period 14:57 | T.J. Hughes Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Nathan MacKinnon (10), Cale Makar (5) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 15:06 | Nathan MacKinnon Goal (6) Slap Shot, assists: Cale Makar (6), Martin Necas (6) |
Statistics
 PIT |
 COL |
|
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Blocked Shots | 13 |
| 14 | Hits | 12 |
| 3 | Takeaways | 3 |
| 31 | Shots | 32 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
| 3 | Power Play Opportunities | 4 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 25.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 23 | Faceoffs Won | 34 |
| 40.4 | Faceoff Win Percent | 59.6 |
| 15 | Giveaways | 18 |
| 4 | Total Penalties | 3 |
| 8 | Penalty Minutes | 6 |
Colorado Avalanche Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Zachary L'Heureux, LW | Out | Oct 17 |
| Nicolas Roy, C | Out | Oct 17 |
| Logan O'Connor, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 14 |
| Georgii Merkulov, C | Injured Reserve | Sep 28 |
Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Egor Chinakhov, RW | Out | Oct 17 |
| Trevor van Riemsdyk, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 12 |
| Justin Brazeau, RW | Injured Reserve | Sep 27 |
| Ryan Graves, D | Injured Reserve | Sep 27 |
Game Information
Ball Arena
Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 18,111 | Capacity:
Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 18,111 | Capacity:
2026-27 Metropolitan Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Carolina |
1 | 1 | 15 | 7 |
 NY Rangers |
0 | 3 | 12 | 6 |
 Washington |
0 | 3 | 10 | 5 |
 New Jersey |
0 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
 NY Islanders |
1 | 3 | 7 | 3 |
 Pittsburgh |
1 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
 Columbus |
0 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
 Philadelphia |
3 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
