Game Notes
Pittsburgh has wins in three-straight games against Colorado. A win tonight would give the Penguins their first four-game win streak against them since Dec. 3, 2009-Mar. 3, 2012 (4-0-0).
The Penguins have points in 12 of their last 18 games against the Avalanche (11- 6-1) dating back to Apr. 6, 2014.
Pittsburgh’s offense has been consistently producing over the past four games, averaging 4.00 goals per game. Since this stretch began on Mar. 14, only two teams in the NHL has scored more goals than the Penguins’ 20 (CAR, 28; NYR, 22).
In eight career games played against Colorado, Michael Bunting has recorded 11 points (6G-5A). It’s his second-most points notched against any one team (Detroit, 13).
Bunting, who was acquired by Pittsburgh along with forwards Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius, and conditional 2024 first-round and fifth-round draft picks from Carolina, has consistently produced since entering the lineup. His six points (3G-3A) are the third-most by any player acquired at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline.
Since debuting with the Penguins on March 9, Michael Bunting is tied for first on Pittsburgh with three goals. His six points in eight games is also tied for first on the team.
Bunting is on a four-game point streak (2G-3A) and has tallied six points (3G-3A) over his last six games.
Only Florida (33.9) and Edmonton (33.6) are averaging more shots per game than Pittsburgh (33.2).
Rickard Rakell’s assist on Friday night allowed him to hit the 30-point plateau (11G-19A) for the third-straight season and ninth time in his career.
Bryan Rust has seven points (4G-3A) in his last six games played against the Avalanche.
Rust has five goals (5G-3A) over his last eight games, and nine goals (9G-4A) over his last 16 games. Since this stretch began on Feb. 6, Rust’s 10 goals lead the Penguins and only Sidney Crosby (19) has more points than his 14.
The Penguins own an overall record of 384-87-45 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.
Sidney Crosby (583) enters today’s game one goal shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky (583) for sole possession of the seventh-most goals with a single franchise in NHL history.
Sidney Crosby (Cole Harbour, NS) and Nathan MacKinnon (Halifax, NS) grew up just minutes apart in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Today’s game will mark the 17th head-to-head matchup between Crosby and MacKinnon, where Crosby’s Penguins have gone 9-7-0 in the first 16 games.
Crosby enters tonight’s game one points shy of 70 points. He’s looking to become the first active player, and ninth player in NHL history, to record 14 or more 70-point campaigns.
Crosby, who leads the Penguins with 69 points (33G-36A) in 69 games, is still producing at an elite rate in his 19th season. The 36-yearold Crosby has one of the highest points-per-game averages in NHL history from a player’s 35th birthday and on.
Evgeni Malkin enters tonight’s game one goal shy of hitting the 20-goal plateau. It would mark the 15th time in his career that Malkin has scored 20 or more goals in a season, and he’s looking to become just the 31st player in NHL history, and fourth active player, with 15 20-goal seasons.
