The latest chapter of the Battle of Cole Harbour will take place at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday evening.
Nova Scotia natives Nathan MacKinnon, one of the greatest centers in the game, and Sidney Crosby, the greatest in the game, will face off for the 11th time in their NHL careers when the Avalanche and Penguins meet at 7:08 p.m. Wednesday.
For MacKinnon, who was a self-proclaimed Crosby "super fan" growing up, the novelty of playing against his childhood idol, now friend, hasn't quite worn off.
"It's always fun," MacKinnon said Tuesday after the Avalanche's practice at PPG Paints Arena. "Obviously I was a little more starstruck a few years ago, but still. Playing against one of the best players ever is always fun. It's going to be a great game tomorrow, two really good teams playing against each other. ... It's fun playing the best player in the world, one of the best players to ever play. Not just for me, but for everybody. Guys who haven't played against Sid, it's really cool for all of our young players to do that."
Crosby is also expecting MacKinnon to be at the top of his game on Wednesday.
"It's always a challenge, year after year" Crosby said of playing MacKinnon. "Especially with the way he skates and what he can do out there. We've seen a lot of each other over the years, I'm sure that'll be the case here."
Both the Penguins and Avalanche are coming into Wednesday's game on hot streaks. The Penguins riding a three-game win streak, including back-to-back seven-goal performances on the last road trip. The Avalanche, with a record of 5-0, are the NHL's only remaining unbeaten team.
While both teams would like to keep their run going, it still has the pressure of any other October game.
"It's our sixth game of the season, so it's not too heightened yet," said MacKinnon. "We have 77 more to go."
It is just another October game, but Crosby and MacKinnon seem to elevate their games a half step or so when facing off against each other. In the pair's last meeting in November 2018, Crosby recorded a natural hat trick and MacKinnon picked up a goal and three assists in a 6-3 Avalanche win.
The Avalanche's five wins have all been fairly close. Four of the wins have been within a margin of two goals, including an overtime win over the Coyotes last week. Their biggest win was on Monday, a 6-3 victory over the Capitals. With the Penguins entering the game on a good note, MacKinnon is expecting another close game.
"Whenever you play the Penguins it's really tough," MacKinnon said. "We've beaten some good teams this season -- Calgary, Boston, Washington, even Arizona -- everybody we've played is a really good team. We're proud of ourselves, but we have a ton of things to get better at. Hopefully we can do that tomorrow against the Pens."
MORE FROM PRACTICE
• The Avalanche only practiced for about 30 minutes, no surprise given they played the night before in Washington. It was a pretty light practice, as evidenced by some of the work that went on:
what is happening pic.twitter.com/UJOgxCGJMc
— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) October 15, 2019
• MacKinnon, Matt Calvert and Vladislav Kamenev stayed out on the ice nearly an hour after practice ended.
• One new face on the Avalanche this season is forward Andre Burakovsky, who saw his fair share of the Penguins over his five seasons with the Capitals.
"For me, it's always been kind of a rivalry," he told me. "It's always fun to come back and play them. Obviously they're a really good team, it's always a good game here, the atmosphere is really good. From the past, they took us out of the playoffs a few times, so it's been some emotion around that. It's going to be a fun game, it's fun to be back here."
Coming into the matchup with the Penguins, Burakovsky says the team isn't focusing on their own record and streak too much.
"Every game, every day is a new game," he said. "The games that are in the past, they're in the past. We're always looking forward and focusing on the next game. We have a good opponent coming up here and we're 100 percent focused on that, not a winning streak. It's good to have a good start, but it's a new game, new team we're playing."
... and given the Penguins' success in recent games, could that new team, the Penguins, be their toughest opponent yet?
"We'll see," Burakovsky said. "We've been having some real tough ones. The Caps, they played really good against us, Boston is always a real tough team to win against, we'll see. Pittsburgh is a good team. We'll see after tomorrow."
• The Avalanche used the following lines and pairings at practice:
Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
J.T. Compher - Nazem Kadri - Andre Burakovsky
Matt Nieto - Tyson Jost - Colin Wilson
Valeri Nichushkin - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Matt Calvert/Vladislav Kamenev
Samuel Girard - Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov - Cale Makar
Ryan Graves - Ian Cole
Kevin Connauton - Mark Barberio
