The Colorado Avalanche will travel to Pittsburgh on Tuesday looking for revenge for last week’s 7–2 blowout win by the Penguins. This will be the second time in eight days that the two teams will meet. The last time was Monday, March 16th. That game resulted in an embarrassing loss for the Avs in the middle of a three-game losing streak. Now the Avs have their captain back, as do the Penguins, so this game could be a completely different one than last week. Fans will need to watch for more speed and more hitting with both captains back in the lineup, but it should make for an entertaining Tuesday night matchup.

Colorado Avalanche (46–13–10, 102 pts)

The Avalanche played one of their ugliest games on Sunday morning, pulling out an overtime win against Washington. Brock Nelson, who has been in a slump, scored the OT winner to secure the win. But the Avs maintained a five-point lead over the Dallas Stars, who lost on Sunday. The good news is that Gabriel Landeskog returned to the lineup after missing seven games. Following a slap shot to his lower-body, he underwent minor surgery for what he had termed “cleanup.” Colorado could see the return of another forward in the next game or two, as every point counts to stay ahead of Dallas.

Projected Lines

Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Valeri Nichushkin – Brock Nelson – Nazem Kadri
Ross Colton – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor
Parker Kelly  – Nicolas Roy – Joel Kiviranta

Brett Kulak – Cale Makar
Devon Toews – Sam Malinski
Josh Manson – Brent Burns

Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood

Pittsburgh Penguins (35–19–16, 86 pts)

Pittsburgh has been a surprise this season, with the way things started for them. They are sitting second in the Metro Division and fighting to hold the spot over Columbus. In their last 10 games they have slipped, going 4–3–3 with a horrible 5-1 loss to Carolina. Egor Chinakhov was the only Penguin to see the back of the net, and it wasn’t until late in the third period. Sidney Crosby has since returned to the lineup, and Samuel Girard has too. This will be Girard’s first time playing the Avalanche since he was injured when they came to Denver last week.

Projected Lines

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau
Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Noel Acciari
Elmer Soderblom – Connor Dewar – Ville Koivunen

Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson
Samuel Girard – Kris Letang
Ryan Graves – Connor Clifton

Arturs Silovs 
Stuart Skinner 

Game Details

Time: 5:00 p.m. MT

Watch: Altitude, Altitude+, SN-PIT (PIT), ESPN+ (Out of Market Only)

Listen: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/AM 950