Avalanche vs. Penguins: Nathan MacKinnon's Four-Point Night Fuels Five Straight Goals in Comeback

The Pittsburgh Penguins had the perfect cold open. Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored 29 seconds apart midway through the first period, Sidney Crosby moved up the NHL's all-time assists list, and Pittsburgh was up 2-0 in Denver.

Then Nathan MacKinnon took the remote. MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, and the Colorado Avalanche reeled off five unanswered goals to beat the Penguins 5-2 on Friday night at Ball Arena.

Pittsburgh Lands the First Punches

Malkin opened the scoring at 8:28, cutting through the right circle into the high slot and snapping a wrist shot far side past Mackenzie Blackwood's right foot while falling to the ice. Ville Koivunen and Erik Karlsson assisted.

Twenty-nine seconds later, Crosby carried the puck down the left side on a 2-on-1 and slid a cross-ice pass to Rust for a tap-in. That assist was the 1,110th of Crosby's career, moving him past Joe Thornton into sole possession of seventh in NHL history, per NHL.com. The AP added that he is one assist shy of matching Ray Bourque, whose 1,111 with Boston are the most in league history with one franchise.

"We got a great start. We knew they were going to push, and we just didn't hold that push enough," Crosby said.

MacKinnon and Lehkonen Flip the Script

The push arrived fast. At 11:01, MacKinnon skated down the right side, cut outside and around Pittsburgh defenseman Declan Carlile, and fed Lehkonen crashing the net. Lehkonen tucked it under Arturs Silovs' blocker to make it 2-1.

Just 25 seconds into the second period, the duo did it again. MacKinnon's shot glanced off the right post, Lehkonen gloved the rebound down, dropped it in the blue paint and backhanded it five-hole. Tie game, and the momentum had officially changed zip codes.

MacKinnon gave Lehkonen the credit. "He's always getting to the right areas," he said, before adding a line about their pregame routine: "Good chemistry in the gym, and it's translating."

Blackwood went even further. "He doesn't get enough credit," Blackwood said of Lehkonen. "Everybody in here really appreciates him."

The Turning Point: A Stopped Penalty Shot, Then a Captain's Answer

At 4:09 of the second, Karlsson hooked MacKinnon on a breakaway, and MacKinnon was awarded a penalty shot. Silovs made the stop with his left pad, and for a brief moment it looked like Pittsburgh had dodged something.

It had not. Brock Nelson retrieved the rebound of a Nazem Kadri shot in the slot and sent it to Gabriel Landeskog at the right post, and the captain swept it past a sprawling Silovs at 4:24 for a 3-2 lead. According to the AP, it was Landeskog's 83rd career go-ahead goal, tying Mikko Rantanen for sixth in Avalanche history.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar liked what he saw from his captain once Colorado simplified. "In the second period, like everybody else, we start chipping the puck and playing to our strengths, and then he starts to show up in a real positive way. Gets a big goal," Bednar said.

Penguins coach Dan Muse saw the same stretch from the other bench. "When they started taking momentum, I didn't think we were able to put some shifts together to just pause it a little bit more," Muse said.

A First Goal and a Water Bottle Ambush

At 14:57 of the second, shortly after a Colorado power play expired, MacKinnon threaded a centering pass to T.J. Hughes at the top of the crease, and Hughes tapped in his first NHL goal. Cale Makar gave him a hug, and Landeskog playfully squirted him with water as he passed the bench, per the AP.

"Felt really good. It was a big goal in a big time of the game," Hughes said. "Nate gave me a great pass."

MacKinnon, in turn, could not stop complimenting Hughes as a person. "It's crazy how nice he is, to be honest. I wish I was that nice," MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon finished the job himself at 15:06 of the third, one-timing a Makar feed from the left dot over Silovs' blocker on the power play for the 5-2 final.

The Stars

MacKinnon played 22:59 and touched four of Colorado's five goals. NHL.com noted it was his 44th career three-assist game, tying Peter Forsberg for the most in Avalanche team history, and his 23rd career four-point game on home ice, tying Joe Sakic for second in franchise history behind Peter Stastny (28). The AP also noted MacKinnon improved to 12-6-3 against Crosby.

Lehkonen scored twice in 18:33. Martin Necas quietly matched MacKinnon with three assists, and Makar added two.

Blackwood shook off the shaky start and made 30 saves on 32 shots. For Pittsburgh, Silovs stopped 27 of 32, and Crosby had his milestone assist in 19:46.

Stats That Matter

• 5: Straight Colorado goals after falling behind 2-0.
• 32-32: Shots on goal. This was not a territorial beatdown; it was a finishing clinic.
• 34-23: Colorado's edge in the faceoff circle.
• 1,110: Crosby's career assists, now seventh all time.
• 1-for-4: Colorado's power play, which converted on MacKinnon's late goal in the Avalanche debut of assistant coach Brett McLean, who now runs the unit, per the AP.

What It Means

Colorado improves to 5-2-1 with 11 points and has alternated wins and losses over its past seven games (4-2-1). This was the Avalanche's first multigoal comeback win of the season, and their first on home ice since April 8, 2025, per NHL.com. Bednar knows the pattern needs to stop. "I'm convinced our guys know what makes us successful as a team, but we're just having a tough time right now putting together a full 60," he said. Colorado starts a two-game road swing on Monday in Philadelphia.

Pittsburgh falls to 3-4-1 with seven points and has lost five of its past six (1-4-1). Crosby pointed at the details. "We just got to find a way to keep it out of our net a little bit better as far as just our structure and not making those mistakes," he said. The Penguins head to Vegas on Saturday.

Closing Take

The Penguins got the cold open, the milestone and the early lead. Colorado got the rest of the episode. When your best player is involved in four goals, your captain scores the go-ahead goal right after a missed penalty shot, and a first-time NHL goal scorer gets doused with water, that is not a comeback. That is a season premiere.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.