Postgame Notes & Quotes 4, 1 Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017

Andreas Martinsen skated in his 100th NHL game and became the fifth Norwegian-born player to play 100 contests in the NHL.

The Avalanche scored a power-play for the third straight game and is now 3-for-7 (42.8 percent) over their last three outings. It’s the first time this Colorado has notched a man-advantage goal in three consecutive contests.

Gabriel Landeskog recorded a season-high eight shots and notched his fourth power-play goal of the season, putting him in a tie with Mikko Rantanen and Jarome Iginla for the lead in the category.

Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon each extended their streaks to three games. Landeskog has four points (one goal, three assists), Rantanen five points (three goals, two assists) and MacKinnon four points (one goal, three assists) in that span.

Nikita Zadorov logged a season-high 26:47 of ice time.

With two assists on the night, Justin Schultz picked up his 39th point of the season, placing him fourth in scoring among NHL defensemen.

Sidney Crosby played in his 754th career game, passing Jean Pronovost for sole possession of third place on the club’s all-time games played list.

Patric Hornqvist registered his second two-goal game of the season and 20th of his career. His seven shots tied a season high.

Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog On Tonight’s Game: “To be honest with you, we gave them the first three goals. It felt like obviously, they created scoring chances but the first three goals, we handed to them. I think even when it’s a one-goal hockey game, we had enough scoring chances to get on top and to win this one. Either (Pittsburgh G Matthew) Murray makes a big stop or we were ringing them off the post or whatever. For the most part I should say, we were doing some good things here tonight and we’re not going to get down on ourselves. We’re going to get on the road and do same damage.”

On His Line: “Well Mikko’s (Colorado RW Mikko Rantanen) been playing well and Nate’s (Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon) playing with a lot of speed. I think he was hungry tonight playing against 87 (Pittsburgh C ) on the other side. They are creating a lot of chances with their speed and I think we just want to make an impact. Like I said, we had enough scoring chances to win this one I think, we just fell short.”

Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon On Tonight’s Game: “Defensively we had some issues but I think offensively, [we played] really good. You know, we had three posts in the first as a line. We had four altogether, one in the second as well. [It’s a] game of millimeters, that’s just the way it went tonight. But obviously, they are a really good team, they’re fast and the won the Cup for a reason last year.”

On The Power Play: “We couldn’t be that bad forever I guess. We were in a slump and we changed up some units and being more aggressive so obviously it’s good that Landy (Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog) found the back of the net. We’ve been pretty good [in] the last five games for sure.”

Pittsburgh C Sidney Crosby On The Team’s Performance: “We leaned on him (Pittsburgh G Matthew Murray) to make some big saves early on and kind of throughout the whole game. Not the start we wanted, but he held us in there and allowed us to chip away and get ourselves in the game.”

On Colorado’s Scoring Chances: “I mean a breakaway, 2-on-0’s, 2-on-1’s, those are the ones you can’t give up. Now it’s going to happen, there’s going to be mistakes but you don’t want to give those up. Multiple chances like that you put yourself in a pretty bad position to win games that way. We were fortunate tonight Murr (Pittsburgh G Matthew Murray) made some saves and we capitalized on our chances but not the kind of game we want to get into play.”

Pittsburgh G Matthew Murray On Playing Against Colorado: “Looking back at it, they are a good offensive team. They are a way better team than their record indicates I think. They can make you pay, they can put the puck in the back of the net I think pretty easily. We knew that coming into this game, I think you are right, they got chances off the rush, off the power play, and end zone going low to high with point shots and deflections. They threw a good variety of pucks on net and we knew that coming in though, that they were going to be a good defensive group.”

On Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon’s Effort: “He’s a good player, I think what sets him apart is his speed, not just his foot speed but his hands. He has really quick hands so in front of the net he’s really good at changing directions. On a breakaway he’s really good, he made a nice move where he pulled it back and put it back the way he was coming from and just hit the post. He’s just a dangerous player and he knows where to go to get into those opportunities. Again, not that we didn’t expect that from him because he’s one heck of player, guys like him and (Colorado C Matt) Duchene, he lives up to the role.”