Penguins confident after losing to NHL-leading Avalanche

Tangibly, the Penguins gained nothing from their 3-2 regulation road loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday.

Intangibly, the Penguins professed they gained a boost of confidence with the result.

Coupled with their 4-3 overtime road win against Minnesota Wild two days earlier, the Penguins seemed to be pretty happy with how they were able to compete with the two best teams in the NHL’s Western Conference.

“We played good hockey,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said to media in Denver after falling to the Avalanche, the NHL’s best team by points. “Overall, those are two teams that are playing really well. For the most part, our game was pretty solid. On both sides of the puck. Today was a tight hockey game, similar to Minnesota, where it’s not going to take much either way to change the outcome. We’ve just to make sure that we keep playing the same way and find a way to tilt it our way when we’re in close games like that.”

The Penguins largely controlled the contest from a puck possession perspective. According to Natural Stat Trick, they had 61 shot attempts while the Avalanche were limited to 52.

“I don’t know the stats, but just off feeling, it felt like we were in their zone a lot more than they were in ours,” Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson said. “It felt like we had more chances than they did. I think we probably deserved to win that one.”

After neither team scored in the first period, the stalemate was broken midway through the game (almost exactly) at 9:59 of the second period.

Driving the puck into the offensive zone, Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon faced resistance from Penguins defenseman John Marino and pulled up on the left half wall. From there, he slid a forehand pass above the left circle where linemate Andre Burakovsky boomed a one-timer on net. Goaltender Tristan Jarry stopped the shot with his glove but did not cleanly handle it. The rebound fluttered above him and Avalanche forward Miiko Rantanen batted it in for his 35th goal of the season while fending off Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson. Burakovsky, a former member of the Erie Otters, and MacKinnon had assists.

Crosby tied the game, 1-1, at the 14:46 mark of the first period. Corralling a blocked shot rebound behind the Avalanche net, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel veered to the right corner and fed a pass to defenseman Kris Letang at the right point. From there, Letang golfed a one-timer at the cage that goaltender Darcy Kuemper booted out. Gaining space on defenseman Cale Makar above the crease, Crosby maintained focus on the rebound and swatted it past Kuemper’s blocker for his 26th goal. Guentzel and Letang claimed assists.

The Avalanche needed all of 20 seconds to reclaim the lead. Surging up the right wing into the offensive zone, Avalanche forward Alex Newhook lost possession of the puck on a poke check by Letang. A strange display in physics led to the puck coming to a complete stop above the right circle and allowed Avalanche forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel to step up and rocket a slap shot under Letang’s right leg and past Jarry’s left skate for his eighth goal. Newhook and linemate Nico Sturm had assists.

Matheson’s 10th goal evened the game again, 2-2, at 15:07 of the third period. Lugging the puck up from his own right corner, Matheson gained the Avalanche’s zone on the left wing and chucked a wrister on net from the left circle. Kuemper made a save but couldn’t glove the puck, allowing a rebound to hop loose. After Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews and Burakovsky failed to corral the puck, Crosby kept it free with a poke check in the left circle and allowed Guentzel to claim possession then slide a pass to low in the right circle. From there, Matheson when backhand to forehand and fired a wrister that glanced off the underside of Kuemper’s glove and hit twine. Guentzel and Crosby netted assists.

Once again, the Avalanche needed little time to regain a lead. Only 27 seconds had expired when Toews scored his 13th goal. After Matheson slid to block a shot attempt by Rantanen from the left wing of the Penguins’ zone, MacKinnon collected the rebound above the right circle and whacked a slapper that missed the mark on the near side. The rebound struck the end boards and caromed to the left of the cage where Toews was pinching and alertly fired a shot past the right skate of a helpless Jarry. MacKinnon and Rantanen recorded assists.

“That’s a tough way to win if you’re going to give it back each time you get there,” Matheson lamented when asked about the Avalanche’s quick responses after the Penguins’ goals. “Definitely something to learn from. Those are important shifts coming off a goal, whether it’s a goal against or a goal for. You want to follow it up with strong shifts. Definitely something to think about and get better at.”

Jarry made 35 saves on 38 shots as his record fell to 33-15-6. The Avalanche’s record improved to 49-14-6, good enough for a league-best 106 points.

“Right now, they’re looking like the best team in the league in terms of points,” Matheson said. “It’s a good step in the right direction for us to know that we’re competing against teams like Minnesota and Colorado. Obviously, get a chance at playing them at home the next game too.”

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was curt when asked what changes he would like to see from his team in Tuesday’s rematch at PPG Paints Arena.

“The result.”

Notes:

• Sullivan did not provide an update on injured forward Jason Zucker and indicated Zucker would be evaluated once the team returns to Pittsburgh. Zucker suffered an undisclosed injury Thursday.

• With Zucker scratched, he was replaced in the lineup by forward Anthony Angello, who appeared in only his second NHL game of the season. On six shifts, Angello logged 6:34 of ice time and was 0 for 1 on faceoffs.

• Matheson matched a career high with his 10th goal. He previously set that mark as a member of the Florida Panthers in 2017-18.

• Guentzel (325 points) surpassed Randy Carlyle (323) for 21st place on the franchise’s career scoring list.

• Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Radim Zohorna were each healthy scratches.

• Due to the pandemic, this was the Penguins’ first game against the Avalanche in over two years. On Jan. 10, 2020, an overtime goal by forward Jared McCann gave the Penguins a 4-3 road win.

• Before Saturday, the Avalanche were the only team the Penguins had yet to play this season.

• Avalanche forward Darren Helm appeared in his 800th career game.