Captain Gabriel Landeskog returns to the Avalanche (7-10-1) lineup as they play the fifth game of their seven-game trip Thursday night against Pittsburgh (11-7-0) at the CONSOL Energy Center.
Here are the game notes.
Landeskog completed his two-game suspension and goes back to the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene as Mikhail Grigorenko moves to center the third line with Cody McLeod and Andreas Martinsen.
Whenever John Mitchell comes back from the oblique injury that continues to be an issue, I'd like to see Grigorenko get a chance on the second line as left wing with Carl Soderberg and Jarome Iginla. That would enable Blake Comeau to go back to the third line with Mitchell or Chris Wagner as the center.
Grigorenko has shown he can be effective with guys who have more skill than McLeod and Martinsen. And now Ben Street is facing surgery for a chest injury that could keep him out for 3-4 months, which would effectively end his season.
Goalie Reto Berra will start for the sixth game in a row after getting yanked late in Tuesday's 5-1 loss in Toronto. Berra played better than his numbers; he stopped 22 of 26 shots on a night when the Avalanche were horrid on special teams. They allowed four goals on five shorthanded situations while going 0-for-4 on power plays and giving up a shorthanded goal.
Calvin Pickard, who stopped three of four shots in relief, will back up again. Semyon Varlamov is getting close to returning from his groin injury and could be back as early as Saturday in Washington to face his former team. Pickard will be returned to San Antonio whenever Varlamov is activated from injured reserve.
Duchene has four goals and five assists in a four-game scoring streak ... MacKinnon has two goals and two assists in a two-game streak, with four goals and six assists in the past seven games ... Berra has a 0-1-0 record against the Penguins with a 2.05 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
The Penguins opened a four-game homestand Tuesday with a 4-3 win against Minnesota after losing three of their previous four games ... They went 2-for-6 on power plays after going 0-for-13 in three games ... They've allowed at least one power-play goal in five consecutive games but have killed 20 of 21 penalties against the Avalanche in the past seven meetings ... Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is 7-3-0 against Colorado with one shutout, a 2.12 average and .922 save percentage.
Still can't figure out how Sidney Crosby has two goals in 18 games. He's also minus-8 ... The Penguins will be without defenseman Olli Maatta (upper-body injury) for 3-4 weeks.
Here's the Avalanche lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Matt Duchene Blake Comeau - Carl Soderberg - Jarome Iginla Cody McLeod - Mikhail Grigorenko - Andreas Martinsen Dennis Everberg - Chris Wagner - Jack Skille
DEFENSE Francois Beauchemin - Erik Johnson Nick Holden - Tyson Barrie Brandon Gormley - Nate Guenin/Zach Redmond
GOALIES Reto Berra Calvin Pickard