Kris Letang scored at 3:36 of overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 2-1 win over the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
The Penguins killed off a penalty in overtime, then scored during a delayed penalty call. Letang, from the left dot, took a feed from Sidney Crosby, who was behind the net, and wristed it off the pads of Colorado goaltender Pavel Francouz.
Both teams were playing for the first time since Jan. 28, coming off a bye week and the All-Star weekend, and entered the unofficial second half of the season in a struggle to make the playoffs.
Bryan Rust also scored and Evgeni Malkin had two assists for the Penguins, who had lost two straight (0-1-1) and six of nine (3-3-3).
Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith, making his fourth straight start as he fills in for injured No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry, made 41 saves.
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Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche, who had won seven of eight.
Francouz made 36 saves.
Colorado winger Artturi Lehkonen left in the first minute of the second period after blocking a shot. He returned, only to take the game's first penalty nearly halfway through the second when he slashed Penguins winger Jake Guentzel.
The Penguins were not quite halfway through that power play when Guentzel got called for hooking Colorado's Erik Johnson.
During the ensuing four-on-four play, MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. He carried the puck out from behind the Pittsburgh net, across the left circle and into the slot. His wrist shot at 10:21 made it through traffic.
The goal gave MacKinnon 21 points in his past 14 games.
With 3:38 left in regulation, the Penguins tied it when Malkin pushed the puck through the crease from near the right post and it went in off Rust's skate.
Pittsburgh nearly scored 23 seconds into overtime on a shot by Guentzel off a two-on-one with Crosby. The puck trickled off Francouz's stick and toward but not quite over the goal line, as ruled by a review.
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--Field Level Media
The Trust Project
