The Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche meet Wednesday in NHL action at the Ball Arena. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are averaging 3.2 goals per game and are scoring on 21.4 percent of their power play opportunities. Jake Guentzel leads Pittsburgh with 30 goals, Sidney Crosby has 54 assists, and Rickard Rakell has 213 shots on goal. Defensively, the Pittsburgh Penguins are allowing 3.3 goals per game and are killing 80 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Tristan Jarry has allowed 109 goals on 1,177 shots faced, and Casey DeSmith has given up 95 goals on 1,018 shots.

The Colorado Avalanche are averaging 3.3 goals per game and are scoring on 24.8 percent of their power play opportunities. Mikko Rantanen leads Colorado with 47 goals, Nathan MacKinnon has 59 assists and Evan Rodrigues has 168 shots on goal. Defensively, the Colorado Avalanche are allowing 2.7 goals per game and are killing 79.3 percent of their opponent’s power plays. Alexandar Georgiev has allowed 128 goals on 1,580 shots faced, and Pavel Francouz has given up 38 goals on 470 shots.

The Penguins are 6-13 in their last 19 road games and 0-4 in their last 4 overall. The Avalanche are 78-30 in their last 108 home games and 145-69 in their last 214 overall. The under is 5-1 in Penguins last 6 overall. The under is 4-1 in Avalanche last 5 home games. The home team is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are the more desperate team here, but that hasn’t stopped them from coming up on the losing end time and time again. The Penguins are in rough shape, and it’s hard to back them against quality teams right now, especially on the road. The Colorado Avalanche are one of the best home teams in the league, dating back to last season. I’ll lay the reasonable juice with the Avs at home.