Blues rough up Avs, 5-1
ST. LOUIS -- Left winger Robby Fabbri and center Jori Lehtera each scored their first goals of the season early in the first period to send the St. Louis Blues to a 5-1 win Sunday over the Colorado Avalanche.
The victory gave the Blues consecutive wins for the first time since opening the season with a three-game winning streak.
Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk assisted on three of the Blues goals as they chased Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov after the second period with their five goals on 25 shots
St. Louis took a quick 2-0 lead on the goals by Fabbri and Lehtera, which came just 1:58 apart. Fabbri scored on a 2-on-1 break off a pass from right winger Dmitrij Jaskin just 1:37 into the game and Lehtera followed with a goal at 3:35, scoring on a shot past Varlamov after he was left alone in front of the net.
They were the first goals the Blues scored in the first period in seven games and marked the first time they scored more than two goals in a game in the last seven contests -- just the second time they had done it in 10 games.
After the Avalanche cut the lead to 2-1 on a goal by Matt Duchene at 6:38 of the second period, St. Louis responded with a three-goal flurry in the final 5:06 of the period to open a 5-1 lead.
Jaden Schwartz scored a power-play goal at 14:54 to begin the surge. Scottie Upshall made it a 4-1 game at 17:03 and David Perron capped the flurry at 19:06 with his fourth goal of the season.
Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson had to leave the game in the first period because of an upper-body injury after he was checked into the boards. He did not return.
NOTES: Colorado coach Jared Bednar spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons behind the bench of the Blues' top farm team, the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League. Current Blues who played for Bednar on those teams were G Jake Allen and RW Ryan Reaves. ... RW Nail Yakupov was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row as the Blues kept their lineup intact from Saturday night's 2-1 overtime win over Columbus. ... Avalanche RW Jarome Iginla played in the 1,485th game of his career, moving into 18th place for most played, one ahead of Rod Brind'Amour. ... The Avalanche return home to play Anaheim on Tuesday night while the next game for the Blues is on Wednesday night, when they host the Chicago Blackhawks.