Hands out two helpers

The winger opened the scoring at 6:36 of the second period and also put away one of the Avalanche's two empty-netters. Lehkonen is now at 26 goals, 11 assists, 113 shots on net and a plus-26 rating through 50 appearances.

DENVER -- Artturi Lehkonen scored twice for the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

Cale Makar had two goals and four assists for the first six-point game by a defenseman in franchise history and Nathan MacKinnon added two goals and three assists to extend his home points streak to 18 games in the Colorado Avalanche’s 7-3 romp over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

Enter Nelson, the best center on the market. He is an elite second-line center whose effectiveness sometimes goes under the radar. Nelson’s all-situation scoring rate has dipped this season, but that is likely a consequence of the Islanders’ disastrous power play.

The Colorado Avalanche host the San Jose Sharks after Artturi Lehkonen's two-goal game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Avalanche's 4-1 win.

Artturi Lehkonen scored two goals, Casey Mittelstadt netted the tiebreaking tally with 4:09 to go and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Tuesday in Denver.

Artturi Lehkonen scored twice and Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves in the Avalanche's 4-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ball Arena on Tuesday. Casey Mittelstadt scored the game-winning goal and Jack Drury added a tally for Colorado while Nathan MacKinnon posted a pair of assists to reach 70 helpers on the season.

Casey Mittelstadt scored with 4:06 remaining and Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves to help the Colorado Avalanche fend off the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It feels like the Pittsburgh Penguins deserved a much better fate than their 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.

The Colorado Avalanche host the San Jose Sharks after Artturi Lehkonen's two-goal game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Avalanche's 4-1 win. Colorado is 19-10-2 at home and 36-24-2 overall.