Sidney Crosby is on a tear, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are right there with him. The star center has 11 points in his last three games, including 2 goals and an assist in Thursday’s win over the slumping Colorado Avalanche. After going 10-2-2 in October, the Avs have won only 5 games out of their past 15.
Peter Budaj got the start in place of Craig Anderson, who was injured in Wednesday’s shootout loss to Florida. The Avs opened the scoring in the first with a powerplay goal from TJ Galiardi, but Crosby scored his first goal of the night with 7 seconds left in the period.
After a scoreless second, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin assisted on Bill Guerin’s game winning powerplay goal early in the 3rd. The Pens then added two empty netters in the final minute to put the game out of reach, including Crosby’s second goal of the night, his 19th of the year.
Evgeni Malkin assisted on both of Crosby’s goals, giving him 20 on the season. Pittsburgh won their 20th game of the season, becoming the first team to hit the 20 win mark this year. The Pens have now won 8 of their last ten games, and now have a 10-4-0 record at Mellon Arena. Pittsburgh is now tied atop the Eastern Conference with 40 points. Only San Jose has more points, as they sit on top of the West with 43 points.