NHL: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche top Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh • Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned aside 34 shots for his second shutout in 11 days and the Colorado Avalanche edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 on Monday night.

Gabriel Landeskog scored the game's only goal 5:26 into the second period as Colorado improved to 8-1, the best start in franchise history.

The game was billed as a fight for bragging rights between Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby and Colorado rookie Nathan MacKinnon. The former No. 1 picks both are from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia in Canada.

Instead, Giguere stole the show. Pittsburgh went 0 for 7 on the power play and lost for the first time at home despite outshooting the Avalanche 34-14.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 13 shots for the Penguins (7-2).

The first professional meeting between MacKinnon and Crosby failed to produce fireworks, not that Crosby didn't try. He pumped a season-high seven shots at Giguere and played more than 26 minutes.

MacKinnon, by comparison, produced two shots in 10:54 of ice time as the Avalanche spent a large portion of the night relying on their penalty killers to hold off one of the NHL's most potent offenses.

The Avalanche have been nothing short of a revelation during the season's opening weeks thanks to steady goaltending and the first-year head coach Patrick Roy's fiery competitiveness.

They needed both to withstand three periods of steady pressure from Crosby.

The Penguins dominated the early going, but had nothing to show for it as four power plays went to waste.

Sharks 1, Red Wings 0, SO • In Detroit, Logan Couture scored in the shootout and San Jose beat Detroit.

The Sharks (8-0-1) are the NHL's last team without a regulation loss.

Each goalie got a shutout for not allowing a goal in 65 minutes.

Antti Niemi — who got his 24th career shutout — made 24 saves for San Jose and Jimmy Howard, who earned his 17th shutout, stopped 27 shots.

It was Niemi's third shutout against Detroit. He also stopped Todd Bertuzzi on Detroit's final shootout attempt with a spectacular pad save.