Eurolanche

Avalanche falls to Penguins

Sidney Crosby was held off the score sheet, but Patric Hornqvist had two goals to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 at Pepsi Center on Thursday.

Crosby, who needs two points for 1,000 in his NHL career, will get his next chance to reach the milestone Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes.

The Penguins (34-13-6) are 4-0-1 in their past five games and moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Colorado (15-34-2) avoided being shut out at 16:44 of the third period on a power-play goal by Gabriel Landeskog, who beat goalie Matt Murray to the short side for his 10th goal. 

Chris Kunitz scored an empty-net goal with 36.5 seconds remaining. Hornqvist scored twice in the second period when the Penguins grabbed a 3-0 lead.

Hornqvist made it 2-0 on a power play at 3:50 after Crosby drew a holding penalty against Nikita Zadorov. Justin Schultz dumped the puck into the corner and Phil Kessel passed to Hornqvist for a shot past Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard.

Hornqvist gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead at 18:38 after Schultz intercepted Avalanche defenseman Francois Beauchemin's clearing attempt.He passed to Hornqvist, who put in his own rebound for his 17th goal.

Kessel gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 4:01 of the first period after a turnover by Avalanche defenseman Patrick Wiercioch in the neutral zone. Matt Cullen passed to Kessel on a 2-on-1 for his 18th goal.

-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --