Tristan Jarry made 30 saves, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins hand the Colorado Avalanche their first loss this season and end their NHL-record 15-game road winning streak with a 4-0 victory at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.
Colorado had not lost on the road since March 4 at the Dallas Stars, passing the Buffalo Sabres (14 straight from April 3-Nov. 13, 2006) for the longest road winning streak (spanning seasons or otherwise) in League history.
The shutout was Jarry’s second in five starts this season for the Penguins (3-4-0), who were outscored 14-6 in three straight losses.
Reilly Smith scored twice and has four goals in seven games after being acquired by Pittsburgh in a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights on June 28. Sidney Crosby and Lars Eller also scored.
Alexandar Georgiev was pulled in the third period after making 20 saves on 24 shots for the Avalanche (6-1-0), who led the NHL with a plus-16 goal differential in their first six games. Ivan Prosvetov made five saves in relief.
Smith put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 on its first shot on goal at 4:40 of the first period, three seconds after a power play expired. Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard went down to block a pass from Rickard Rakell but slid the puck to Smith in the slot for a wrist shot.
Smith scored again to make it 2-0 at 16:51, chipping in a shot off a pass from Evgeni Malkin on a 2-on-1.
The Avalanche trailed by more than one goal for the first time this season.
Eller extended the lead to 3-0 at 6:00 of the second on his first goal with the Penguins, a backhand with Georgiev scrambling in the crease after Radim Zohorna tapped the puck off Josh Manson’s stick.
Colorado had a four-minute power play after Malkin was given a double minor for high sticking at 16:25 but could not score on three shots on goal.
Jonathan Drouin had the best chance at 19:43, when Jarry gloved his one-timer.
Crosby scored through traffic from the high slot for the 4-0 final at 10:35 of the third.
