- Oct 16, 2026
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SportsMafia Wire graphic. Team logos and player headshots via ESPN.
The Colorado Avalanche erased an early two-goal deficit and surged ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Denver.
Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead in the opening period. Just 29 seconds later, Bryan Rust converted a 2-on-1 feed from Sidney Crosby to extend the advantage to 2-0. Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson lost balance on the play, contributing to the defensive breakdown. Colorado's Artturi Lehkonen answered back more than two minutes after Rust's goal, redirecting a pass from Nathan MacKinnon on a back-door play for his fifth tally of the season.
Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood kept his team within reach during the opening frame, making multiple saves including a glove stop on Rust and another on a Malkin wraparound attempt. Pittsburgh outshot Colorado 14-5 through the first period.
Lehkonen struck again 25 seconds into the second period, burying a rebound past Silovs to tie the contest. Gabriel Landeskog later gave Colorado its first lead, cleaning up a backdoor rebound after a Nazem Kadri shot was saved by Silovs. It marked Landeskog's third goal of the campaign.
Colorado's new assistant coach McLean has revamped the power play, though the unit struggled in this contest. Novak was whistled for high-sticking Toews with 5:49 remaining in the period, and Brindley took an interference penalty after Novak returned. An uncalled slash by T.J. Hughes on Ben Kindel at approximately the 5:30 mark also drew attention.
Written by the SportsMafia Wire desk in our own words from the original reporting (AI-assisted, checked against the source).