Third-period surge propels Avalanche past Penguins

Artturi Lehkonen scored two goals, Casey Mittelstadt netted the tiebreaking tally with 4:09 to go and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Tuesday in Denver.

Jack Drury also scored, Nathan MacKinnon had two assists and Scott Wedgewood turned away 32 shots for the Avalanche, who have won the first three games of a six-game homestand.

Ryan Lindgren logged 20:33 of ice time in his first game with the Avalanche since being acquired from the New York Rangers.

Rickard Rakell had a goal and Alex Nedeljkovic made 21 saves for Pittsburgh, which has lost three straight (0-2-1).

With the game tied 1-1, the Avalanche got their only power play of the night late in the third period. They nearly came up empty before MacKinnon passed it to Valeri Nichushkin below the goal line. Nichushkin saucered a pass to Mittelstadt on the other side of the net, and Mittelstadt's shot went off Nedeljkovic and in at 15:51.

Lehkonen and Drury added empty-net goals in the final 1:08 to seal it.

The Penguins held a 12-8 shot advantage after the first period and continued their surge early in the second, but it was Colorado that struck first.

Cale Makar sent the puck to MacKinnon behind the net. MacKinnon passed it to Lehkonen in the slot, and Lehkonen's one-timer beat Nedeljkovic over his left shoulder at 6:36 of the second.

The Avalanche nearly scored again after taking the first penalty of the game. Nichushkin got a pass at the Pittsburgh blue line and skated in alone on Nedeljkovic, but the goalie got his right pad on the shot to keep it a 1-0 game.

The Penguins got the equalizer later in the second. Sidney Crosby passed the puck through the slot to Bryan Rust in the left circle. Rust quickly sent it to the right of the crease, where Rakell tipped it by Wedgewood at 18:04.

Colorado almost took the lead in the third period when Joel Kiviranta and Drury had a two-on-one rush, but Kiviranta's shot went over the net.

--Field Level Media