{"id":485327,"date":"2026-03-16T10:49:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=485327"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:49:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:49:31","slug":"prime-monday-hockey-pittsburgh-penguins-vs-colorado-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/03\/16\/prime-monday-hockey-pittsburgh-penguins-vs-colorado-avalanche\/","title":{"rendered":"Prime Monday Hockey: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Colorado Avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday Night Hockey on Prime continues today with the final of two games this Monday. The second matchup features the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting the Colorado Avalanche<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to check out more\u00a0<\/span>NHL Predictions<\/a>, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Monday Night Hockey: Penguins vs Avalanche<\/h2>\n

2024-25 Season Series: Penguins 0-2 Avalanche<\/h3>\n

How to Watch<\/a>:<\/h3>\n

U.S. TV:<\/strong> ESPN; <\/span>ESPN+; Sportsnet Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Canada TV:<\/strong> Prime (Canada); TVA Sports<\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> 9:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/p>\n

It’s the second<\/a> of two games on Monday Night Hockey on Prime.<\/a> This edition of NHL predictions features the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> and the Colorado Avalanche<\/a>. Both teams are currently in position to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs as of Monday’s games.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh is tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Islanders<\/a>. However, the Penguins still need to keep pickup points to avoid getting sucked into the crowded Wild Card race in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

Colorado is currently on pace to win the President’s Trophy. However, the Avalanche are focused trying to escape the first round for the first since they won the Stanley Cup in 2022. The pressure is one to get out of the opening round.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at the statistics and storylines in this second of two Monday Night Hockey on Prime editions of NHL predictions.<\/p>\n

The Penguins Story<\/h3>\n

Pittsburgh has been a welcome surprise this season after a couple of years in the wilderness. There was some major worry that the team would struggle without Sidney Crosby<\/a>. However, the Penguins have been able to tread water with a 4-3-3 mark in their last 10 games.<\/p>\n

Arturs Silovs<\/a> is the projected starter for Pittsburgh in this one. However, always check social media before locking in a daily fantasy starter. The Latvian is 14-9-8 with a 2.84 goals-against-average and .894 save percentage.<\/span><\/p>\n

There have been questions about Evgeni Malkin<\/a>‘s future in Pittsburgh. However, he leads the team in assists and will return to the lineup. Malkin’s return is huge, but we could also see Crosby return as well.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

\u00a0(Credit Image: \u00a9 Dirk Shadd\/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Avalanche Story<\/h3>\n

Colorado currently has the most points in the league at this point. The Avalanche are 7-3 in the last 10 games but did lose to the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> in their last time out. Colorado leads the Dallas Stars<\/a> by three points in the Central Division.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a> is the likely starter for the Avalanche. Blackwood has an 18-8-1 record with a 2.21 GAA and a .908 save percentage. He also has three shutouts so far this campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> has 109 points so far this season, including nine points in the last 10 games. Martin Necas<\/a> also has 31 goals for Colorado.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/h3>\n

This should be a good one and the return of Malkin and Crosby could give Pittsburgh a shot in the arm. Both teams have high-powered offences and talented players.<\/p>\n

However, Colorado should get the win at home. The Avs are 23-5-4 at Ball Arena this season and that should be a massive help.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Avalanche win 4-3.<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Bets<\/h3>\n

We close out NHL predictions with some prop bets of the night. The over\/under for this game is 6.5, and we like the over in this one.<\/p>\n

As far as individual props go, take Erik Karlsson<\/a> to get a power-play point for Pittsburgh. On the Colorado side of things, go with Cale Makar<\/a> to have a multiple-point night.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

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Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday Night Hockey on Prime continues today with the final of two games this Monday. The second matchup features the Pittsburgh Penguins visiting the Colorado Avalanche.\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to check out more\u00a0NHL Predictions, as our writers continue this series throughout the 2025-26 season. Monday Night Hockey: Penguins vs Avalanche 2024-25 Season Series: Penguins 0-2 Avalanche How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":452513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4524,28,4547,4548,12],"tags":[7417,6085,544,2152,8225,6123,8226,140],"class_list":["post-485327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl-predictions","category-avalanche","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-penguins","tag-arturs-silovs","tag-colorado-avalanche-predictions","tag-evgeni-malkin","tag-mackenzie-blackwood","tag-monday-night-hockey","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-predictions","tag-prime-video","tag-sidney-crosby"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485327"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485354,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485327\/revisions\/485354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}