Penguins Mistakes Too Much; Lose to Avalanche of Goals

The Pittsburgh Penguins still believe they’re capable of returning to the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring, and it certainly is premature to dismiss the possibility just yet.

But that certainly won’t happen if they can’t escape the dark side of .500, and that’s a challenge they’ve failed to meet twice in the past five days.

Colorado beat them,  6-2, at PPG Paints Arena Tuesday evening, dropping the Penguins’ record to 12-14-4, snapping their four-game winning streak on home ice and a 3-0-1 run against the Avalanche.

The Penguins also had a chance to reach the break-even mark when they visited the New York Rangers last Friday, but were defeated, 4-2, at Madison Square Garden.

Mikko Rantanen led Colorado’s offensive onslaught, scoring three goals.

Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, acquired by the Avalanche from San Jose a day earlier, was not in Colorado’s lineup, as Scott Wedgewood got the start.

Not long after the opening faceoff, however, it looked as if Wedgewood might not be around for long.

He went down in the crease at 1:25 of the opening period after being bumped by Penguins center Evgeni Malkin, and appeared to be shaken up. If Wedgewood had to leave, backup Trent Miner, who has all of 35 minutes of NHL experience, would have replaced him.

Wedgewood was able to stay in the game, however, and a few minutes later, Alex Nedeljkovic of the Penguins turned out to be the goalie who needed medical attention.

Nedeljkovic, who was Tristan Jarry’s backup, was struck under the right eye by a puck while sitting near the end of the Penguins’ bench. He was immediately taken to the locker room for treatment and did not return to the bench area until early in the second period.

Nedeljkovic was injured a few minutes after Nathan MacKinnon gave the Avs a 1-0 lead at 6:31 by beating Jarry from above the left dot.

Jarry kept the Penguins within a goal by denying Colorado winger Logan O’Connor on a breakaway at 15:43, but Rantanen put the Avalanche up, 2-0, by tucking a shot past Jarry from the lip of the crease at 18:22.

The Pittsburgh Penguins got their first power play of the game at 1:47 of the second, when Colorado’s Ivan Ivan (yes, that’s his name) was penalized for tripping, but they were unable to cut into the Avs’ advantage.

That proved to be costly when Rantanen struck again from the bottom of the right circle to make it 3-0.

The Penguins finally broke through at 7:21, as Cody Glass threw a shot past Wedgewood from inside the right circle for his first goal in 17 games with the Penguins this season. Malkin and Kris Letang received assists.

Penguins defenseman Owen Pickering picked up his first penalty in the NHL at 9:55, as he was assessed a minor for delay of game after shooting a puck over the glass.

The Penguins had an thoroughly unproductive power play that began at 16:44 — they spent virtually no time in the Colorado zone during those two minutes with the extra man — but just nine seconds after the Avalanche returned to full strength, Michael Bunting scored from the slot to get the Penguins within one.

Erik Karlsson, who fed the puck to Bunting from the left side, and Bryan Rust got assists on the goal, Bunting’s seventh.

Valeri Nichushkin restored Colorado’s two-goal lead with a spectacular individual effort at 3:23 of the third.

He carried the puck down the right side and got around defenseman Marcus Pettersson before stuffing a shot past Jarry from close range.

The Penguins had a chance to counter that when Colorado was caught with too many men on the ice at 4:01, but failed to capitalize. They also couldn’t convert when Avalanche forward Givani Smith was called for tripping at 9:48, and Colorado choked off any hope of a comeback less than a minute after he returned to the ice.

Artturi Lehkonen beat Jarry from near the inner edge of the right circle at 12:31 to put the game out of reach, and Rantanen completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net at 15:08.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to practice Wednesday at noon at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex before traveling to Montreal to face the Canadiens Thursday at 7:08 p.m.