Defenseman Tyson Barrie is expected to play Tuesday in Pittsburgh when the Avalanche continue their road trip.
Coach Jared Bednar told reporters after practice Monday that Barrie “should be a player for us… against the Penguins.
Barrie, who has missed four games with a lower-body injury, is the Avalanche’s fourth-leading scorer with 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 23 games, and they’ve missed his ability to move the puck up the ice.
Even so, the Avalanche have won six consecutive road games, their longest such streak since Oct. 8 to Nov. 1, 2013. They’ll take a 10-4-2 road record into their game with the Penguins, and a 9-0-2 streak overall.
Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves Sunday in the Avalanche’s 2-0 win in Detroit, his 20th shutout with Colorado and 24th of his NHL career.
It was another physical game, similar to the game against St. Louis on Friday. ching "I like the way that we have established a physical side to our game in a smart way,… Bednar said. “We're not shying away from contact, but we're not running around trying to hit people. It is great to see us playing with that fire without taking bad penalties."
Detroit's Tyler Bertuzzi has been suspended two games for punching Matt Calvert while on the bench. Here's NHL Player Safety's explanation (you'll need to click on photo and turn on your volume):
Detroit’s Tyler Bertuzzi has been suspended for two games for unsportsmanlike conduct/roughing on Colorado’s Matt Calvert. https://t.co/L2E2XHzDNW
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) December 3, 2018
Meanwhile, the Gabriel Landeskog-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen line accounted for both goals. MacKinnon completed a tic-tac-toe passing play on a power play in the second period and Landeskog scored an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Rantanen leads the NHL in scoring (45 points) and assists (34). MacKinnon, who has a team-leading 19 goals, is second in league scoring with 43 points.
The line has combined for 118 points (46 goals, 72 assists).