Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Colorado Avalanche (7-1-0) and Pittsburgh Penguins (7-1-0) go head-to-head live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The game can be live streamed here. Colorado fans can hear all the hard-hitting action on KCKK AM 1510 while Pittsburgh fans can do the same on 105.9 FM WXDX.
In the first of two meetings between these two teams, they both enter atop their respective divisions with the same exact records. Pittsburgh enters the contest with a three point lead atop the Metropolitan Division while Colorado sits two points up on the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the Central Division. Cole Harbour natives Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon will go face-to-face for the first time after both being selected at No.1 overall in the NHL Draft eight years apart.
Colorado is no stranger to road success through its surprising early surge under first-year coach Patrick Roy, having won all four road games it has played in thus far while getting a lot of help from its top six forwards. Roy pointed out the play of Matt Duchene (six goals, three assists) who leads the team in goals and points (nine) as well as Ryan O'Reilly, who has three goals and three assists for six points.
"[Duchene and O'Reilly] have been dominant, to be honest with you," Roy told NHL.com. "What I like about them is the consistency that they're bringing every night. That's a good sign of maturity. They start to get mature and they show a lot of poise and good things out there."
P.A. Parenteau (three goals, four assists) and MacKinnon (one goal, six assists) have also been productive for Colorado, notching seven points each.
While the Avalanche have been road warriors, the Penguins have yet to lose at home with their last win coming in a thrilling 3-2 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
"I think as a group, we're finding ways to win," Crosby, who had a goal and two assists in that game, told NHL.com. "Today wasn't our best game...we still want to get better."
Crosby is off to the best start of his career as his 17 points lead the league and he's tied for the league-lead in goals (seven) and assists (10) and has an eight-game point streak. Chris Kunitz follows with four goals and six assists for 10 points while Evgeni Malkin (three goals, six assists) and Pascal Dupuis(two tallies, seven helpers) each have nine points.
Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury is tied for the league-lead with seven wins and one shutout and has yet to lose while boasting a 7-0-0 record to go along with a 1.84 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
Colorado counters with Semyon Varlamov, who is 5-1-0 through six starts with a 1.68 GAA and a .950 save percentage.
Colorado hasn't lost on the road while Pittsburgh has yet to lose at home, but one of these teams must fall when the lights come on at Consol Energy Center tonight in Pittsburgh.
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