(MENAFN- Kora) Pittsburgh had already wrapped up top spot in the eastern conference's metropolitan division but made a big statement ahead of the nhl play-offs with victory over the high-flying avalanche.
Minus captain sidney crosby plus key players brooks orpik chris kunitz olli maatta and evgeni malkin the penguins claimed a 2-0 lead with a period to play but were caught by colorado in the third stanza.
After a scoreless extra period the first three shootout attempts were missed before jussi jokinen converted for pittsburgh and when penguins goaltender marc-andre fleury saved gabriel landeskog's shot the visitors triumphed.
The win took pittsburgh to 105 points at the top of the metropolitan division while colorado's first defeat in seven games saw the avalanche stay on 107 points - second in the western conference's central division.
After a goalless first period in colorado brandon sutter struck in the fourth and eighth minutes of the middle stanza to put the penguins on top.
Just 18 seconds into the third period ryan o'reilly got on the board for colorado while patrick bordeleau equalised for the hosts in the 17th minute although it meant little as pittsburgh won the shootout to earn their second victory in four matches.
The chicago blackhawks were also injury depleted but ben smith's goal with four seconds left gave them a 4-2 win over the st louis blues.
Jonathan toews and patrick kane were unavailable for chicago and the blues took advantage early with jaden schwartz scoring in the second minute for the visitors.
The blackhawks took over in the second period with goals from jeremy morin and patrick sharp before marcus kruger extended the home team's lead to 3-1 in the opening minute of the final stanza.
St louis reduced chicago's lead to one goal in the 18th minute when vladimir sobotka scored but smith's late strike confirmed the blackhawks' third win in a row.
Chicago (105) moved to within two points of colorado in the central standings while st louis remain top on 111.
In other nhl results the columbus blue jackets shutout the new york islanders to win 4-0 the philadelphia flyers blitzed the buffalo sabres 5-2 the anaheim ducks suffered a shock 4-2 loss to the edmonton oilers and the florida panthers edged out the dallas stars.
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