Penguins/Avalanche Recap: Colorado’s stars make it look easy in big win over Pens

The Pens keep it close for a while but the Avs flex on them by the end of a 6-2 game

Pregame

Phil Tomasino is back from injury, spelling Jesse Puljujarvi. Tristan Jarry in the net for the Penguins.

The visiting Colorado Avalanche are lining up in the following way.

First period

Evgeni Malkin cuts through the crease and catches goalie Scott Wedgewood up high. The goalie looks stunned for a bit but gets some quick medical attention and is able to continue.

Ryan Graves gets called for a high-sticking minor 2:06 into the game, which doesn’t bode well but Pittsburgh is able to kill the penalty off.

Tomasino has a good chance but can’t score. Soon after Matt Grzelcyk tries to step up in the zone, fails tremendously and Nathan MacKinnon roars around him. The Avalanche score, second shot of the game on the Jarry special for the early goal against. But it’s not like one of the best in the league had a free shooting lane, so what can ya do?

Backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic is struck by a puck while sitting on the bench and heads to the locker-room. Never a good omen when the goalie not playing gets dinged up.

Logan O’Connor gets sprung on a breakaway for the Avs, Jarry comes up huge with the stop to keep his team close.

Colorado gets another before the end of the period. Cale Makar makes a fancy play to ole past Kris Letang and then make a great pass to Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen ups the ante by blowing past Rickard Rakell and then dekeing out Jarry before flipping a puck up and in the net. 2-0.

Shots are 10-8 COL through one, doesn’t feel that close. Avs in clear control.

Second period

Drew O’Connor draws a penalty early on, not very good for the Pens.

Colorado’s strong play continues. Artturi Lehkonen steals a puck off Anthony Beauvillier, a few passes later and Rantanen jams a bad angle shot that leaks through Jarry for his second goal of the night. Woof. 3-0.

Finally, the Pens punch back. Letang’s pinch results in turning the puck over, he feeds Evgeni Malkin who goes back across the ice to find Cody Glass. Glass measures up Wedgewood and snaps a shot by him low before the goalie can even react. 3-1 game.

Owen Pickering takes the first penalty of his NHL career by accidentally clearing a puck a little too high and off the surface. The Pens kill it off.

Michael Bunting takes down Devon Toews and goes nuts about Toews taking a dive. Either way, Bunting to the penalty box. Pittsburgh again kills it off.

Colorado keeps pushing their luck, Parker Kelly runs Jarry and gets called for interference. A scrum happens, Jarry takes a minor for unsportsmanlike in the melee but the refs take off two Avs to allow a Pittsburgh power play. They barely enter the zone with control before Colorado repeatedly clears it out.

After the dreadful power play, the Pens score right as it ends. Erik Karlsson makes a beauty of a hard blind centering pass, it ends up perfectly on the stick of Bunting. A nice finish to the top corner and it’s a 3-2 game.

The crucial late goal keeps this one close through 40.

Third period

Pittsburgh gets a few chances to tie it up, Malkin sets up Glass again for another look but it can’t go. Colorado re-extends their lead to two goals when Val Nichushkin walks around Marcus Pettersson like he isn’t even there and then drives to the far post. Nichushkin gets there before Jarry and slams the puck home with authority. Strong move. 4-2.

The Avs keep the door open by taking a too many men call, but there’s no dice from the Pittsburgh power play tonight.

Malkin gets tripped and Pittsburgh gets a fourth power play of the game as a result. They ice the puck on it, so that about sums up that. Soon after it ends, MacKinnon gets on the ice as the same time as Graves. You can guess what happens next, a couple quick passes and Lehkonen slips a puck by Jarry from in front. 5-2 with 7:39.

Both defensemen for the Avs are knocked over, Hayes has a chance from in front but Wedgewood is able to stop the puck from going into the net.

The Pens decide to pull Jarry with a ton of time left for...Well, I’m not really sure why. Maybe they wanted to get Rantanen his hat trick goal. He got it. 6-2.

Some thoughts

• Jarry’s first goal allowed tonight came on the second shot on goal for the opponent. This marks the ninth time out of 11 starts that he’s surrendered a goal within the first five shots on goal. Granted this one had the big, stinky fingerprints of Grzelcyk on it, but call it how you want it’s damaging to fall behind early and almost impossible for Jarry to get to the first TV timeout without seeing his team give up a goal.
• Not sure I’ve seen a team make more drop and back passes than Colorado in a long time. And not the wayward ones the Pens sometimes make that drive everyone crazy, the Avs have guys stepping right into them and ready to rock ‘n roll and make it look like everyone is on the same page. It’s a pretty brand of hockey they play out there in Denver. Especially when it’s Makar, Rantanen and MacKinnon all working in concert together. Those guys are unfair together.
• It took him playing 17 games and until December 10th but Cody Glass got his first goal of the season. Ideally it won’t take 17 more for the next one.
• Michael Bunting is so funny when he gets his wires crossed and goes crazy over something on the ice. He’s not Steve Downie (who could be) but there’s almost shades of it, if Downie was way less violent and threatening. But hey, six points in the last five games and a three-game point streak so it’s nice to see the streaky scoring heating up.
• Tonight showed the downside of the talent split on the power play and not having Crosby with Rust, Malkin or Karlsson. When it works, it looks nice to have balance, when no one can get anything going it just feels like wasted opportunities looking up to see Crosby sending and receiving passes from the likes of Kevin Hayes.
• Rantanen and MacKinnon each put up five points. No one on the Pens could touch them. MacKinnon’s leading the league in scoring at a team where there’s a ton of talent vying for that title. Sometimes you gotta tip your cap and recognize the place on the food chain and that happened to the Pens tonight. The best few players on Colorado were head and shoulders above anyone Pittsburgh had. The Avs won 4-0 in Jersey the other day much the same way in an even more impressive manner.
• Looking back, it’s tough to believe it was a 3-2 game at intermission, and in theory the Pens had a chance. Never really felt like it.

After being at home for a very long time, Pittsburgh gets back to the road with a multi-game road trip for the first time in a while. Maybe that will help. Montreal up next on Thursday.