Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Colorado Avalanche 3/4/2025

It’s the Pens’ last game together before Friday’s trade deadline.

Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (24-29-10, 58 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division) @ Colorado Avalanche (35-24-2, 72 points, 4th place Central Division)

When: 9:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: SN-PIT, ALT, SNE, TVAS, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins are spending this week on the road, with the trip to Denver by flights to Las Vegas on Friday and Minneapolis on Sunday. Tonight’s game is the last time the Penguins play before the NHL trade deadline hits at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

Opponent Track: The Avs dropped their first two games out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, but more recently claimed back-to-back blowout victories during which they outscored the New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild by a combined score of 10-3.

Season Series: The Pens scored twice in the second period on Dec. 10 to cut the visiting Avs’ lead to one goal, but were unable to complete the comeback in a 6-2 loss at home.

Hidden Stat: The Avs were 13-12-0 before acquiring goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood from the San Jose Sharks, but upped their pace to 22-12-2 since his first start.

Getting to know the Avalanche

Projected lines (from Sunday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas

Valeri Nichushkin – Casey Mittelstadt – Jonathan Drouin

Joel Kivranta – Jack Drury – Ross Colton

Miles Wood – Parker Kelly – Logan O’Connor

DEFENSEMEN

Devon Toews / Cale Makar

Samuel Girard / Oliver Kylington

Ryan Lindgren / Sam Malinski

Goalies: Mackenzie Blackwood, Scott Wedgewood

Scratches: Josh Manson (injured)

IR: Gabriel Landeskog, Tucker Poolman

• Tonight marks the Avalanche’s first game with their new lines since acquiring Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey from the New York Rangers in exchange for Juuso Parssinen, Calvin de Hahn and a draft pick. Expect to see Lindgren at work on the Avs’ penalty kill, which has so far this season ranked in the middle of the pack with a 79.9 percent success rate.
• Defenseman Josh Manson has missed six games with a lower-body injury, but the Avs’ three-day weekend may have given him enough time to recover. Per Brennan Vogt of Mile High Hockey, he could return during the Avs’ four-game homestand, which starts tonight against the Penguins.

• Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland indicated Monday that Gabriel Landeskog will not return before the end of the regular season. Landeskog, who has not played in the NHL since June 2022, underwent a cartilage transplant in May 2023.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• After being held without a point during the Avs’ two recent back-to-back losses, Nathan MacKinnon got up to his usual tricks with a three-point outing against the Devils that included a highlight-reel baseball goal:

• The Avs are currently sitting in the first Wild Card spot in the West, two points back from the Minnesota Wild for the third Central Division slot. MacFarland, who already made the decision to trade Mikko Rantanen earlier this season, says the Vesey/Lindgren trade isn’t the only move he’s planning to make before the deadline as the Avalanche gears up for a playoff push:

And now for the Pens

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Anthony Beauvillier – Evgeni Malkin – Philip Tomasino

Danton Heinen – Kevin Hayes – Emil Bemstrom

Blake Lizotte – Cody Glass – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Ryan Shea / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Ryan Graves / Vincent Desharnais

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic, Tristan Jarry (he’s back!)

Potential Scratches: Vladislav Kolyachonok, Boko Imama

Injured Reserve: Michael Bunting (appendix surgery), P.O. Joseph (upper-body injury)

• Jarry is back. He last played in the NHL on Jan. 14, and last won on Dec. 23.He posted a .866 save percentage over his last three AHL starts. Now, he’s back with the Penguins.

• P.O. Joseph was placed on IR Monday with an upper-body injury.