Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (6:00 p.m.)

Mar 22, 2023 - 11:00 PM

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Coming off a sixth straight victory and a fresh new extension for Coach Jared Bednar, the Colorado Avalanche are riding high into Ball Arena to face a Pittsburgh Penguins team that has struggled to maintain its chances at a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Despite the continued excellence of Sidney Crosby and a resurgent season from Evgeni Malkin, the Pens desperately need to spoil Colorado’s streak to stay afloat. But the Avs need the win too if they want to keep pushing for the top spot in the Central Division. MacKinnon v Crosby in the battle of the buddies could only mean more for their teams if it were happening in June.

COLORADO AVALANCHE PROJECTED LINEUP

Denis Malgin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Valeri Nichushkin — J.T. Compher — Alex Newhook
Andrew Cogliano — Lars Eller — Logan O’Connor
Matt Nieto — Darren Helm — Alex Galchenyuk

Devon Toews — Bowen Byram
Samuel Girard — Jack Johnson
Kurtis MacDermid — Brad Hunt

Alexandar Georgiev

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS PROJECTED LINEUP

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Jason Zucker - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Danton Heinen - Ryan Poehling - Mikael Granlund
Drew O’Connor - Jeff Carter - Josh Archibald

P.O. Joseph - Kris Letang
Brian Dumoulin - Chad Ruhwedel
Mark Friedman - Taylor Fedun

Tristan Jarry

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