Eurolanche

Pens, in first without Dupuis, play Avs

Season series: Sidney Crosby scored 11:56 into the third period in the Pittsburgh Penguins' 4-3 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 19. Forwards Evgeni Malkin, David Perron and Chris Kunitz also scored for the Penguins, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves. Forward Matt Duchene scored twice for the Avalanche and goalie Reto Berra made 26 saves.

Penguins (14-10-2) team scope: Defenseman Kris Letang returned to the ice for practice Tuesday after missing the past two games with an undisclosed injury. Letang took contact but is questionable. "[Letang] has skated the two previous days and had good skates," coach Mike Johnston told the Penguins website Tuesday. "We'll see how he responds to practice and the contact and if the trainers give him clearance for [Wednesday] or not." Rookie forward Daniel Sprong re-enters the Penguins lineup in place of Pascal Dupuis, who announced his retirement Tuesday because of a medical condition related to blood clots. Sprong, 18, has two goals in 14 games and hasn't played since Nov. 17 against the Minnesota Wild. "Sprong will be in and we looked at a couple different combinations for lines." Johnston said. Pittsburgh ends a four-game road trip having lost four of its past five games and 5-5-2 following a 9-1-0 stretch.

Avalanche (12-15-1) team scope: Berra will start for Colorado after Seymon Varlamov made 19 saves in a 2-1 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild on Monday. "[Berra] will start. We have a lot of games coming up, three in four days on the road," coach Patrick Roy told the Avalanche website. "[Varlamov] will play the first game [Saturday] in Nashville and then we'll make some decisions." Roy was happy with his new third line of Andreas Martinsen, Carl Soderberg and Blake Comeau in the victory Monday and will stick with. "It’s a big line, a line capable of protecting the puck and possessing the puck," he said. "We're just going to take one game at a time." The Avalanche, last in the Central Division, have won three of their past four games. Duchene has 13 goals and 23 points in 18 games since the beginning of November. Roy also said defenseman Zach Redmond would be a healthy scratch and Nate Guenin would be in the lineup.

-- by Jon Lane for NHL.com --