NHL Grind Down: Thursday, February 9th - Page Three
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Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Matt Murray |  | Calvin Pickard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 33-13-6 | 15-33-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.54 | 2.85 | 22.50% | 79.30% | Team Stats | 2.06 | 3.34 | 14.60% | 78.50% |
Although Evgeni Malkin has made road trip and has been skating it appears that the Penguins may give him one more day to recover from his lower body injury. Meanwhile Sidney Crosby will try once again to become only the 85th player in league history to accumulate 1,000 points and tonight he should do it. Chris Kunitz and Bryan Rust will try to accomplish this feat as the will skate on the top line at even strength. Nick Bonino will center Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel while Patric Hornqvist gets the top power play minutes although skating on the third line. One would have to think that Colorado will not want to be the team to let Crosby attain this magical number but then again, they may not have a choice. Crosby heads the top power play that features Kessel, Bonino, Hornqvist and defenseman Justin Schultz. The best thing to do is pair any of these two players together as Colorado has given up power play goals in five of their last seven games. Kris Letang may be used here on the back line as it may be just a matter of time before he jumps back up on the Penguins top power play unit. Letang has grabbed four points the the last four games he has suited up for since his injury.
The Avalanche are going for their third win in a row which would be the first time the team has done that all season. Defenseman Tyson Barrie has been in and out of the lineup due to a lower body injury which basically makes him a non-factor for tonight’s game. Nikita Zadorov and Mark Barberio have taken over the points on the top power play unit that has scored in each of the last two games. Zadorov has grabbed four points in the last eight games while Barberio has collected two points in as many games. The top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel landeskog and Mikko Rantanen should be the line to target here for your tournament selections tonight. As a unit they lead the team with 17 points in the last eight games while MacKinnon leads the team with 36 points. Being on home ice should help this line tonight as they will be able to dictate what line the face throughout the night. Matt Duchene makes for a decent one-off tournament play here as he centers the second line with Mikhail Grigorenko and ex-San Jose scrub Tom Nieto. Duchene has 32 points so far this season with nine of them coming with the man advantage.
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby
COL: Nathan MacKinnon
Secondary Plays
PIT: Phil Kessel, Justin Schultz, Patric Hornqvist, Kris Letang, Nick Bonino
COL: Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen, Nikita Zadorov