Along the somewhat chaotic course of a Stanley Cup playoff chase, there will be big issues,

there will be little issues, and sometimes the little issues will be the big issues because everything gets magnified.

Good morning. Good. Monday morning from Denver. I'm Dan Kovach, of each of D.K. Pittsburgh Sports,

and this is Daily Shot of Penguins. It comes your way bright and early every weekday. If you're into football and or baseball, I also offer daily shots of Steelers and Pirates in the same place

that you found this. Penguins v. Avalanche is taking place here tonight. That's a 9.38 p.m.

faceoff inside ball arena. Colorado has held the NHL's best record pretty much all season long.

44, 12, and 9.

A bit of a bump for those guys before the Olympic break.

And if you want to get nitpicky, over the past five games, they've won once in regulation.

They won a couple by shootout.

They lost to the Oilers, and they lost to the Jets in Winnipeg just a couple of nights ago.

So, you know, have they come down to Earth?

Yeah, but not by a bunch, not by any appreciable amount.

They remain, certainly in my eyes, the team to beat when it comes to this spring and summer.

And they're obviously going to represent one heck of a challenge for the penguins tonight.

It'll help that Yvgeny Malkin will be back in the lineup.

His five-game suspension ended upon the completion of that four-to-three victory over the mammoth.

Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Sidney Crosby, we'll see.

We'll see.

Cid's skated in every opportunity that he's had on this trip.

He's with the team.

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