Game #12 - at Colorado Avalanche

Pittsburgh Penguins (6-4-1, 13 pts) at Colorado Avalanche (7-4-0, 14 pts)

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The Pens will face another big challenge when they play the Avalanche in Denver. The Avs have a few things going for them:

• They're undefeated at home (5-0)
• They're pretty loaded offensively with Sakic, Stastny, Smyth, Brunette, Svatos, Wolski, and Arnason.
• Their special teams at home are good (power play 6-25, penalty kill 19-23)
• Did I mention they're undefeated at home?

Each team most recently beat the Minnesota Wild. Peter Budaj has played most of the home games, and I'd expect that to continue against the Pens. The Avalanche have been helping him out by keeping the shot totals quite low. They've only had one home game where they've allowed more than 30 shots, and that's despite being short-handed at least 5 times in three of those games.

The Pens need to continue their good play from the other night in Minnesota. If the Avs have a weakness, it's on their blue line. Only two defensemen have a goal, and the one with the most most minutes (Hannan) is a -7.

Avalanche blog - check out Jerseys and Hockey Love. The review of the game against the Wild is secondary to the paragraph about the sadness of watching the Rockies lose in the World Series. Feels like 1992 all over again.

Let's Go Pens!