Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby teamed up to help Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off last month, and now the good friends from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, will be back battling each other when the Colorado Avalanche meet the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night in Denver.
While MacKinnon and Crosby would usually draw the most interest when they’re playing in the same game, Tuesday might be different. Colorado acquired defenseman Ryan Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey from the New York Rangers since beating Minnesota on Friday night, and one or both are set to make their Avalanche debuts against Pittsburgh.
Lindgren played on the top defensive pairing for New York and will likely be on the second pairing with Colorado, behind Cale Makar and Devon Toews. The Avalanche were thin on defense, and Josh Manson’s injury tested their depth, but Lindgren’s presence shores up that potential weakness.
“That’s a big add,” coach Jared Bednar said. “The depth, getting another really strong penalty killer, the physicality around the net front and down low in your own zone to be able to help close plays out.
“He can play a lot, and I think that will help lighten the load and allow us to be able to, especially on the penalty kill, save some ice-time off of (Toews) and (Makar).”
Lindgren has just 19 points this season (two goals, 17 assists), but his defense will help Colorado’s leading scorers for the final 21 games. MacKinnon leads the NHL in scoring with 91 points (23 goals, 68 assists) and Makar is the top defenseman in scoring with 67 points (22 goals, 45 assists).
The Avalanche are solidly in the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference but are trying to catch the Wild and Dallas in the Central Division. The Penguins, however, are on pace to miss the playoffs for the third straight season.
Crosby, at age 37, leads them in scoring with 65 points (19 goals, 46 assists) and has played in 61 of Pittsburgh’s 63 games. Rickard Rakell is second with 52 points (28 goals, 24 assists), Bryan Rust (21 goals, 25 assists) is third with 46 points and Erik Karlsson (eight goals, 37 assists) is fourth with 45 points.
The Penguins will again be without winger Michael Bunting, who had an emergency appendectomy last week and is out for the near future.
Pittsburgh recalled goaltender Tristan Jarry from its AHL affiliate ahead of Tuesday’s game, and he could be in line for some work. Jarry struggled earlier this season, was placed on waivers in January and went to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after he cleared waivers.
It could be the first of many transactions this week for the Penguins ahead of Friday’s trade deadline. Players know they can be dealt to a contending team but try to block out the speculation.
“It’s a business. I’ve known that since I was 21 years old,” Kris Letang — one of three Pittsburgh players, along with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who are 37 or older — told PittsburghHockeyNow after Sunday’s loss to Toronto. “Whatever happens, happens.”
–Field Level Media
