The Avalanche are dealing with injuries, too, but have been winning nonetheless.
Pittsburgh still has star power - Sidney Crosby leads the team with 83 points - but it is an aging group that will face a faster and younger Colorado team. Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta have missed two straight games, and Marcus Pettersson suffered a lower-body injury against the New York Rangers on Saturday and was placed on long-term injured reserve Monday. They were without three of their top blue-liners against the Senators. Injuries to the defensive corps have hurt the Penguins. We've got to worry about ourselves and make sure we get as many points as we can. "The playoffs have started for us already, it feels like kind of," Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel said after a 2-1 loss to Ottawa on Monday night. The Penguins have reached the playoffs 16 straight seasons, winning three championships in that span, but are in danger of not extending the streak to 17 straight. Pittsburgh (34-26-10, 78 points) has lost four in a row and dropped out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. In that game, Colorado defenseman Cale Makar suffered a concussion after taking a shot to the head from Penguins forward Jeff Carter. Pittsburgh won the first game, 2-1 in overtime, at home on Feb. The Avalanche (41-22-6, 88 points) will go for their seventh straight win when they host the reeling Penguins on Wednesday night in Denver. The Pittsburgh Penguins did just that in 2016-17 and Colorado is on a mission to do the same, having won six straight and looking as determined as it did last season, when it won its first Cup since 2001. The Colorado Avalanche are trying to become the third team in eight years to pull off back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
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