Colorado Avalanche Finally Fall to Pittsburgh Penguins
Streaks always come to an end, the Colorado Avalanche looked like they may just win out but the Penguins’ had something to say about that.
In particular, the Pens’ Patric Hornqvist had something to say in the form of three goals in three minutes to bury the Colorado Avalanche.
Pittsburgh 6, Colorado 3.
The same old story about Colorado needing defense to step up and offense beyond the first line reared it’s head on Tuesday night as netminder Semyon Varlamov gave up the six goals on 32 shots and the top line accounted for just two assists.
It was nice to see Tyson Barrie get on the sheet with his fourth goal, Carl Soderberg notched his ninth and Matt Nieto got on the board for the Colorado Avalanche with a shorty in the second period.
That’s about all the good that can be drawn out of the Avs performance. These downturns have become rare this season and there’s not much concern unless it becomes a trend. An early-November slump had a similar feel but the Avs were able to right the ship after just two games of downtime.
Just a quick note regarding the Avs previous 2-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings, the NHL has suspended Tyler Bertuzzi for two games for his actions from the Detroit bench. It should have been more. Bertuzzi living up to his uncle’s reputation and the Red Wings embracing it don’t surprise long-time Colorado fans.
With the loss, the Avs failed to keep pace with division rival Nashville and slip to second place in the Western Conference with 37 points, still one ahead of surging Winnipeg and Calgary.
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The Avalanche will continue on their four-game road trip on Thursday night with a trip to Florida and meeting with the slumping Panthers. Florida has struggled for much of the season but still remain strong on their home ice. The Panthers are also coming off of a 5-0 pounding of the Montreal Canadiens.