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

It’s a years-long trend since he arrived in Denver and had a breakout season when the Avs won the Stanley Cup. Just in the years since the title, Colorado is 89-30-10 during the regular season when Nichushkin plays and 46-43-6 when he doesn’t.

With the game tied 1-1, the Avalanche got their only power play of the night late in the third period. They nearly came up empty before MacKinnon passed it to Valeri Nichushkin below the goal line. Nichushkin saucered a pass to Mittelstadt on the other side of the net, and Mittelstadt's shot went off Nedeljkovic and in at 15:51.

Valeri Nichushkin’s puck-handling skills and vision on the ice are outstanding. He is the epitome of a playmaker and the team suffers when he is out of the lineup. A perfect example of his abilities was displayed on his 30th birthday in the victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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 the go-ahead goal on a power play with 4:09 remaining, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 5-1 in Denver on Wednesday night. Artturi Lehkonen, Casey Mittelstadt and Logan O'Connor also scored for Colorado,

It took 25 seconds for Valeri Nichushkin to make an impact Wednesday ... the top power play at the start of the game. But when Artturi Lehkonen needed a break after drawing a penalty, there ...