Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
Earlier in March the Pittsburgh Penguins met the league leading Colorado Avalanche for the first time this season. On the road without their captain Sidney Crosby, the Penguins embarrassed the Avs winning 7-2. Hence, there was a feeling in the air that when the Avalanche traveled to Pittsburgh, they would not go lightly. This feeling was accurate as the Avalanche dominated the Penguins for all 60 minutes of the game and won 6-2.
It was announced the morning of the game that Evgeni Malkin was ruled out with a day-to-day with an undisclosed upper body injury. Ville Koivunen was recalled filling the hole left in the lineup. March has been a bad month for Malkin as earlier he was suspended five games for his slash on Buffalo Sabre’s forward Rasmus Dahlin.
Nonetheless the Pens got ready as Metallica’s Search and Destroy hyped up the crowed while the audience looked to break the Penguins record of Hot Dogs eaten during their first of two Dollar Dog Nights. The previous record of 15,000 hot dogs was broken as on March 31st, fans will look to beat the 16,706 sold on March 24th.
Nathan MacKinnon scored first for the Avs 4:57 into the game off of a breakaway due to a defensive error on the Pens. Fortunately, the crowd was not down for long as Egor Chinakov got a slapshot past Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood. This goal was assisted by Samuel Girard who marked his 200th assist and by Kris Letang who joined the 800-point club with the assist.
Bryan Rust made another error for the Penguins blocking Pen’s goalie Arturs Silovs sight allowing Sam Malinski to score for the Avs. Within the next two minutes, the Avs increased their lead to 4-1 with goals from Martin Necas and Parker Kelly.
Bryan Rust continued to have a bad night for the Penguins and got into two scrums. The tensions ran high on the ice as the Avalanche aggressive play and the missed passes from the Penguins plus the failed powerplays for the Pens made the players irritable. The first time around Rusty got into it with Cale Makar and Devon Toews, later, after a Justin Brazeau goal was overturned by a coach’s challenge halfway through the second period, Rusty started a fight which resulted in him being helmetless and choked out.
The Avs scored again in the second period increasing their lead to 5-1. Penguins’ fans began to leave in droves heading into the third as many hoped Stuart Skinner would come in for Silovs. However, Silovs was not pulled as he was not the issue, rather poor passing, defensive formations, and an abysmal 0/4 on the powerplay, even failing on a three minute 5 on 3.
In the third period the Penguins attempted to send the house with offensive pushes, but nothing stuck. Rickard Rakell looked surprised whenever he scored in the third, but an empty netter by Ross Colton finished the game at 6-2.
The Avalanche have already clinched the playoffs, being the first to do so. They sit at the top of the Central division at 47-13-10 and are looking to add another President’s Trophy to their collection. As for Pittsburgh, they are 3rd in the Metropolitan division with a 35-20-16 record. With eleven games remaining for them they are one point behind the Colombus Blue Jackets (87) and one ahead of the New York Islanders (86).
To purchase tickets for the Penguins second Dollar Dog Night of the season head to Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit Red Wings Tickets Mar 31, 2026 Pittsburgh, PA | Ticketmaster.
