The Colorado Avalanche will have to wait to put together a true winning streak after dropping a 4-1 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night at Pepsi Center. Colorado, winners of their previous two, has yet to string together three consecutive wins this season and fell to 15-34-2 with the loss.
Colorado had a minor victory in the loss; Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby did not score his 1,000th career point on Pepsi Center Ice. The Penguins’ captain, now in his 12th year in the NHL, remains stuck at 998. Crosby with be the 86th player to cross the 1,000-point threshold, presumably in the very near future
Patric Hornqvist did the damage for Pittsburgh in this contest, scoring twice. Matt Murray made 27 saves on 28 shots for the Penguins as the Colorado offense was just off the mark all night. Gabriel Landeskog scored Colorado’s only goal, a third period power play goal that came with the Avs already trailing 3-0. Chris Kunitz scored an empty netter to ice things for the Pens.
The Avs now embark on a five-game East Coast road swing with back-to-back games against the Rangers and Islanders in New York this weekend. They skip over to New Jersey early next week before a trip up to Buffalo and then down to Carolina.