Blues 4, Avalanche 0
Jason Arnott and captain David Backes had power-play goals in the second period and Brian Elliott needed to make only 15 saves for his fifth shutout of the season as the St. Louis Blues moved into first place in the Central Division with a 4-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Patrik Berglund and former Avalanche defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the first period as the Blues won their NHL-leading 17th game at the Scottrade Center. St. Louis also improved to 18-5-5 under coach Ken Hitchcock and moved past the idle Chicago Blackhawks for the top spot in the division.
The Blues outshot the Avalanche by a 39-15 margin and are 3-0-0 in 2012 after dropping their last three in 2011.
Elliott (15-5-0) is second in the league in shutouts to Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick (six).
Colorado had its four-game overall and road winning streaks snapped and lost for only the second time in its last 11 games. The league’s top power play on the road went 0-for-4.
The Blues were 2-for-5 with the man advantage and have scored nine goals on their last 26 power plays. Both came in the second period as St. Louis increased its lead to 4-0.
Arnott beat Jean-Sebastien Giguere with a wrist shot at 1:20 and Backes collected a rebound and patiently found an opening at 9:58.