The Colorado Avalanche (33-29-4, 70 pts) had no solutions for C Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins (38-21-5, 81 pts), falling 5-1 Saturday night.

The Penguins got on the board quickly in the first period and put the Avs in an early 2-0 deficit. Colorado actually out-shot the Pittsburgh offense 14-8 in the first period, but the Penguins charged back in the second, blasting 12 shots to the Avs' 9 and scoring 2 goals in the process.

In the third and final period, the balance swung back to the Avalanche, who managed to once again out-shoot Pittsburgh. They were rewarded with a goal from D Matt Hunwick, but RW Arron Asham answered back with a goal of his own, putting the final score at 5-1. LW Steve Sullivan, RW Richard Park, D Deryk Engelland, C Malkin and RW Asham all scored for the Penguins Saturday night.

The Avalanche will be back in action Sunday night, traveling to play the Minnesota Wild at 5:00 p.m. MST.

For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Penguins blog Pensburgh. For more news and updates from around the league, drop by the NHL news hub.