Pittsburgh Hopes to End Slide
The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves out of a playoff position in the Eastern Conference after four straight losses and face a daunting task to turn things around when they start a quick road trip against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
The Penguins, who visit the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars on Thursday, gave up 16 goals in the first three games of their losing streak before surrendering a late power-play goal in a 2-1 setback against the Ottawa Senators at home Monday.
While Colorado is comfortably in a playoff spot in the Western Conference after winning six straight for the third time this season, Pittsburgh dropped one point behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild-card spot in the East after Monday’s loss.
The Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-0 at home on Monday and own points in eight of their last nine contests (7-1-1) while outscoring opponents 27-12 during their win streak.
According to the NHL lines, the Penguins are 28-42 against the spread (ATS) and Colorado is 36-33.
Penguins Struggling
Time is suddenly running out for the Penguins, who seemed on their way to a 17th straight postseason appearance after going 7-1-1 during a nine-game stretch between Feb. 25-March 12.
Pittsburgh sent 49 shots at Ottawa goalie Dylan Ferguson, who was making his first NHL start Monday, and only one snuck in the net. The Penguins have managed just three goals in the past three contests – two by Rickard Rakell.
The Senators only registered 21 shots on goal Monday despite a make-shift defense for Pittsburgh that was without regulars Jeff Petry, Jan Rutta and Marcus Pettersson, along with newly-acquired veteran defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.
The under is 5-1-0 in the past six Penguins’ games, according to sports betting online.
Sullivan: Pettersson ‘week to week’ with his injury. Same with Kulikov, Rutta. One bright spot: Petry skated on his own this morning, and he’s ‘day to day.’
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) March 20, 2023
Captain Sidney Crosby has been shut out the past two games but recorded 10 of his team-leading 83 points in the last eight contests for Pittsburgh, while Rakell boasts four of his 25 goals in his past six outings.
The Penguins are just 15-15-5 on the road, losing the last three away from PPG Paints Arena.
Avalanche Rolling
Goalie Alexandar Georgiev recorded his fifth shutout of the season Monday with 27 saves as Colorado continues to show improvement on defense.
The Avalanche earned the shutout without reigning Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, who has at least a point in eight straight games (three goals, 13 assists) and is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
Leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon has a nine-game points streak that includes six goals and 10 assists, while Mikko Rantanen has scored in five straight contests for the Avalanche, who are 19-11-5 at home and 10-for-26 on the power play across the last eight contests.
Colorado is the favorite to win the West at +250 in the NHL playoff odds.
Penguins vs Avalanche Game Injuries
Penguins vs Avalanche Head-to-Head
The Avalanche have earned at least a point in five straight games (2-0-3) against Pittsburgh, but that includes three losses in overtime.
The latest of those three extra-time defeats came Feb. 7 when the Penguins tied it with 3:38 left in regulation on a Bryan Rust goal. Later, defenseman Kris Letang won it 2-1 in OT at home. Backup Casey DeSmith made 41 saves for the win as the teams combined for 80 shots on the cage.
Colorado won both matchups during the 2021-22 season, where 15 total goals were scored.
Georgiev did not play in the first meeting this season and was 3-3-1 with a .883 save percentage against Pittsburgh while with the New York Rangers.
Penguins vs Avalanche Game Information
- Game: Penguins (34-26-10) vs Avalanche (41-22-6)
- Day/Time: Wednesday, March 22nd, 8:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
- Penguins vs Avalanche Live Stream: NHL.TV
Penguins vs Avalanche Betting Lines
Penguins vs Avalanche Picks and Prediction
Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan will likely split his goaltenders on the trip, and it’s only a guess whether DeSmith gets another shot at Colorado or No. 1 netminder Tristan Jarry (20-10-6, .907 SP) gets the call.
Jarry is 0-3-0 in his last four outings while surrendering 13 goals on 79 shots, while DeSmith (13-14-4) won his last start on March 11 against Philadelphia.
The Penguins have Crosby and all kinds of experience in these situations, but Colorado is on a roll. The under is 39-25-5 in Colorado games this season, but we think this game could open up a little bit with injuries mounting on defense. The over is also 5-1-1 in the last seven Avs games versus the East.
The Penguins are listed at +150 in our Las Vegas NHL odds. This means that if you wager $100 on Pittsburgh, you have a chance to win $150. The Avalanche are -170, offering a chance to win $59 on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the betting lines gives the Penguins a 40% chance to win, with Colorado at 62.96%.
Penguins vs Avalanche Trends
Penguins vs Avalanche Edge
Penguins vs Avalanche Results
Penguins vs Avalanche Game Summary
