The Pittsburgh Penguins (24-30-10) travel to face off against the Colorado Avalanche (35-24-2) on Tuesday, March 4th. This game will be played at Ball Arena in Denver and televised on ESPN+. The Penguins are coming off a win in their previous game, while the Avalanche are looking to get back on track from a loss to the Predators. Puck drop is set for 9:00 ET.

Penguins vs Avalanche

The Pittsburgh Penguins Are Coming Off A Win

The Penguins improved to 24-30-10 with a 3-1 win over the Canadiens. Pittsburgh covered the puck line as -1.5 goal favorites, and the total of 4 goals fell short of the 6.5-goal line.

Sidney Crosby scored twice for the Penguins, and Blake Lizotte added an empty-net goal to seal the victory. The Penguins kept the Canadiens off the board until the 3rd period.

The Colorado Avalanche Look To Bounce Back From A Loss

Following a 5-2 loss to the Predators, the Avalanche’s record now stands at 35-24-2. Colorado was the underdog on the puck line, and the total for the game was set at 6.5 goals. The combined 7 goals surpassed that mark.

Colorado took the lead in the second period with a goal from Cale Makar, but Nashville responded with five unanswered goals. Nathan MacKinnon added a goal for the Avalanche in the third period, bringing them within one, before the Predators pulled away with two empty-net goals.

Pittsburgh Offense Breakdown

Sidney Crosby led the Penguins’ offense with two goals in their 3-1 win over Montreal. He found the net for the fourth time this season at 4:03 in the first period, and added a fifth on a power play at 1:20 in the second. Blake Lizotte sealed the game with his second goal of the season, an empty-netter with 45 seconds left.

The Penguins took 24 shots on goal and recorded 14 giveaways. Lars Eller picked up his third assist of the season on Lizotte’s empty-net goal, while Erik Karlsson earned his seventh assist on Crosby’s power-play goal. Kris Letang also contributed with his third assist of the season.

Avalanche Offense Breakdown

Cale Makar opened the scoring for the Avalanche with his 5th goal of the season, which came on a power play. Nathan MacKinnon added his 6th goal, finding the net with just 2:17 left in the game. MacKinnon also picked up his 14th assist on Makar’s goal.

The Avalanche fired 30 shots on goal but were hampered by 23 giveaways. Makar’s goal came 2:54 into the second period, while MacKinnon’s was at the 17:43 mark of the third period.

Pittsburgh Team Defense

Defensively, the Penguins will look to build off their last game, where they allowed just one goal to the Canadiens. Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves with a 96.2% save percentage, and the defense added 5 takeaways and 19 hits. The only goal they gave up came at 5:32 in the 3rd period.

Colorado Team Defense

Defensively, the Avalanche will look to improve after allowing five goals to Nashville. Justus Annunen made 21 saves with a save percentage of 87.5%. After taking a 1-0 lead, Colorado gave up five of the next six goals, including two late empty-netters. The Avalanche’s defense also recorded 11 takeaways and 26 hits.

Penguins vs Avalanche Trends

• In their last ten games away from home, the Penguins have a straight up record of 4-6 while going 5-5 vs the spread. The team’s offense averaged 2 goals per game in these contests.
• Across their last five home contests, Colorado has been good against the puck line posting a mark of 4-1. Their overall mark in these games was 4-1, while averaging 3 goals per game.
• Going back to their previous ten games as the underdog, Colorado has an puck line mark of 6-4 while going 5-5 straight up.
• Going back to their last three games as the favorite, the Penguins have a straight up record of 1-2. But, their mark vs the puck line was just 0-3.

Penguins vs Avalanche Prediction

For a moneyline bet, we have the Avalanche as the likely winner. However, with the current odds at -273, I’d suggest considering a puck line bet, as our predictions have the Avalanche winning by more than one goal.

For a puck line pick, we are going with the Avalanche to win and cover. Look for the Avalanche to win this one by multiple goals over the Penguins.

With an over/under line sitting at 6.5 goals, we like this game to remain below that mark and recommend getting a bet down on the under.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.