Avalanche 5, Blues 0
Semyon Varlamov returned from a groin injury and made 26 saves in his first game since Dec. 5 as host Colorado crushed St. Louis for its third straight victory.
Defensemen Erik Johnson and Zach Redmond scored for Colorado, which extended its point streak to six contests (4-0-2) and defeated St. Louis for the first time this season after a pair of 3-2 post-regulation losses. Alex Tanguay, Ryan O'Reilly and Jarome Iginla each recorded a goal and an assist while captain Gabriel Landeskog and blue-liner Brad Stuart notched two assists apiece as the Avalanche outshot the Blues 31-14 over the first two periods en route to a 5-0 lead.
Jake Allen suffered his first regulation loss since Dec. 3 (3-0-1) before yielding to Martin Brodeur (10 saves) to start the third period for St. Louis, which finished its road trip 0-2-1. The Blues recorded 12 shots in the final session but could not prevent Varlamov from recording his 15th career shutout and second of the season.
Johnson started the scoring when he sent a wrist shot from the point through heavy traffic and past Allen at 15:02 of the first period before Redmond sneaked in the back door and converted a pass from O'Reilly at the side of the net during a power play 3:43 later. Iginla fired a shot toward the net that bounced off the upper body of Tanguay, who was credited with his third goal in three games at 5:49 of the second.
After St. Louis defenseman Jay Bouwmeester took a delay-of-game penalty for firing the puck over the glass, O'Reilly gained possession near the side of the net and waited patiently before lifting a shot between Allen's left shoulder and the corner of the net with 3:13 left in the middle session. Iginla took a drop pass from John Mitchell and whistled a wrist shot past Allen's blocker 40 seconds later for his 568th career goal.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Brodeur has the most wins in NHL history (690) and Avalanche coach Patrick Roy is second (551). ... Iginla trails Mike Bossy by five goals for 20th place on the all-time list. ... Stuart was presented a silver stick in a pregame ceremony after becoming the 100th defenseman in NHL history to play 1,000 games Thursday in Pittsburgh.