Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche at Pittsburgh Penguins (5:00 p.m. MT)

PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 10: Rickard Rakell #67 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates against Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche at PPG PAINTS Arena on December 10, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images After a 3-2 overtime win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday, the Colorado Avalanche are continuing their East Coast road trip with a matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight. This will be the second and final regular-season matchup between these two teams, with Pittsburgh having won the first one by a final score of 7-2 just over a week ago.

Colorado Avalanche (46-13-10) After getting Gabe Landeskog back in the lineup against the Washington Capitals, the Avs get even more reinforcements tonight, as Logan O’Connor is making his season debut, and Ross Colton is also getting back in the lineup as well. Obviously, Colorado’s last game against Pittsburgh didn’t go so well for Colorado at all, and hopefully getting even more reinforcements back into the lineup tonight gives the team a boost, even if it’s an emotional one more than anything. Projected Lineup Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas Valeri Nichushkin – Brock Nelson – Ross Colton Parker Kelly – Nazem Kadri – Logan O’Connor Joel Kiviranta – Nicolas Roy – Jack Drury Brett Kulak – Cale Makar Devon Toews – Sam Malinski Josh Manson – Brent Burns Scott Wedgewood Mackenzie Blackwood Pittsburgh Penguins (35-19-16) The Penguins have just continued to win games this year and have put themself into a playoff spot after looking like they would miss the playoffs at the start of this season.

They’re coming into this game off a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes and will be looking to get right in this game and earn another two points to keep pushing to make the playoffs. Projected Lineup Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Egor Chinakhov Ville Koivunen – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau Elmer Soderblom – Connor Dewar – Noel Acciari Parker Wotherspoon – Erik Karlsson Samuel Girard – Kris Letang Ryan Shea – Connor Clifton Arturs Silovs Stuart Skinner