The first time the Colorado Avalanche faced the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, the Pens, sans Sidney Crosby, blew out the Avs 7-2 at Ball Arena.
Well, it seems the Avalanche headed to PPG Paints Arena with a chip on their shoulder. The Avs opened up a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes, and pretty much wrapped up the game with a 5-1 lead after two periods.
All told, Colorado exacted revenge, getting a 6-2 road win. The game was nowhere close for Pittsburgh. The upstart club was on its heels the entire night. If anything, the four goals in the first took the wind out of the Penguins’ sails.
From there, the Avalanche cruised to the victory. Colorado controlled much of the play, even with the final shot count being 32-30 in favor of the Penguins.
It’s worth noting that former Avalanche Samuel Girard assisted on Egor Chinakov’s 17th of the season in the first period. The goal momentarily tied the game at one. The assist was Girard’s 200th NHL helper.
Colorado opens up some breathing room in Central Division
The win put the Avalanche seven points ahead of the idle Dallas Stars. The Stars have all of a sudden hit a skid, losing three in a row. Meanwhile, the Avalanche have opened up a comfortable lead with a three-game winning streak of their own.
Colorado has one game in hand on the Stars, who sit in second place in the Central with 97 points. The Avalanche’s win over the Penguins was their 47th of the season, good for 104 points.
The lead over the Stars in the standings is certainly welcome. The Stars nearly closed the gap a few days ago, getting to within one point of the division lead. Now, the seven-point lead seems insurmountable with a dozen games to go.
In fact, the Stars might be looking over their shoulders, as the Minnesota Wild sit in third place with 92 points. The Wild’s incentive to move into second would be to wrestle home-ice advantage away from Dallas in their potential first-round matchup.
Avalanche got huge game from Logan O’Connor
The biggest bright spot for the Avalanche was the return of forward Logan O’Connor. The gritty winger returned after missing practically the entire season while recovering from hip surgery.
O’Connor suited up for 15:05 of ice time on 20 shifts. He got an assist on Parker Kelly’s 16th of the year.
It was great getting O’Connor back in the lineup. He played on a new-look third line with Nazem Kadri and Kelly. The line resembled much of what fans expected when Kadri rejoined the Avalanche at this year’s NHL trade deadline.
With captain Gabriel Landeskog back as well, the Avalanche’s lineup looks more like what fans would want to see for Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
If Tuesday night’s game was any indication, the Avalanche could be a juggernaut, and certainly the team to beat in the Western Conference.