Blues beat Avs to keep streaking
DENVER -- Magnus Paajarvi scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, Jordan Schwartz added to the lead later in the frame, and the St. Louis Blues stayed hot with a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
Patrik Berglund scored twice and Jake Allen had 26 saves for the Blues, who have won eight of their past nine and moved into a tie with Nashville for third in the Central Division with 83 points each.
The Blues hold the tiebreaker with 38 regulation/overtime wins.
The news wasn't all good for St. Louis (39-28-5). Center Paul Stastny left the game in the first period after taking a shot in the foot from teammate Vladimir Tarasenko. He played just six shifts before leaving. His status was not announced.
John Mitchell had a goal and an assist, Mark Barberio also scored and Calvin Pickard finished with 25 saves for the Avalanche (20-49-3).
The game was tied at 1-1 after two when Paajarvi deflected a shot by Ivan Barbashev past at 5:05 of the third. Schwartz made it 3-1 with an unassisted goal at 8:44, his 15th of the season.
Barberio's second goal of the year at 14:50 made it close, and the Avalanche pulled Pickard for an extra skater with about 1:40 left. Berglund scored into the empty net at 19:12 to seal it with his 21st goal.
Mitchell gave Colorado a 1-0 lead when beat Allen at 5:32 of the first period. It was Mitchell's third of the year and first in 19 games.
The Blues tied it late in the second period when Zachary Sanford and David Perron worked the puck away from Avalanche players behind the net. Sanford fed Berglund in front, and his one-timer beat Pickard at 16:50.
Sanford and Perron finished with two assists each.
NOTES: Avalanche G Calvin Pickard has now started seven of the last eight games. Since Semyon Varlamov was lost for the season in mid-January, Pickard has started 21 of Colorado's 30 games. ... St. Louis RW Dmitrij Jaskin has resumed skating but was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. There is no timetable for his return. C Jori Lehtera missed his sixth straight game with an upper-body injury. ... The Avalanche are 2-for-43 on the power play over the last 18 games.