Last Game: Colorado Avalanche 5 at St. Louis Blues 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Joe Sakic had two goals and an assist to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-2 victory Thursday night over the slumping St. Louis Blues.
Sakic's second of the game, and 39th of the season, at 3:54 of the second period gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. Colorado won its fourth consecutive road game.
It was the fourth time this season Sakic had multiple goals. The last time was January 4 against San Jose when he scored twice. Milan Hejduk had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche, and Rob Blake had two assists. Ville Nieminen and Steve Reinprecht also scored for Colorado.
The loss extends St. Louis' winless streak to five games and snaps a six-game unbeaten streak at Savvis Center. St. Louis has not won since February 26 when it beat San Jose 7-3. Sakic beat St. Louis goalie Roman Turek at 6:52 of the first to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. At 13:28 of the first, Sakic assisted on Hejduk's 37th of the season to make it a two-goal advantage.
Todd Rierden scored a power-play goal at 15:29 to cut the deficit to 2-1. The goal was Rierden's first since Feb. 15 against Calgary. Marty Reasoner scored at 19:39 of the first to tie it. Reasoner avoided Colorado defenseman Jon Klemm, who was sliding on the ice, and beat goalie Patrick Roy.
It was the third time this season that Turek allowed five goals. He had not lost at home in five games, dating to January 27 against San Jose.
Turek left the ice to boos after the second period and was replaced in the third period by Brent Johnson, who made eight saves. Turek made 14 saves and was not on the bench for the third period. St. Louis is 4-10-3 without injured defensemen Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger. Colorado, 5-0-0-1 since acquiring Blake, held a 27-24 shots advantage.
Game Notes:
Reinprecht's goal was his first since being acquired with Blake from Los Angeles...
St. Louis RW Scott Young had an eight-game point scoring streak snapped...
Colorado is unbeaten in 59 of its last 75 regular season games (51-12-9-3)...
Milan Hejduk established a new career high for goals in a season with 37...
The Avalanche has already surpassed last season's totals for wins (43) and points (98), having ended the 1999-00 season with 42 wins and 96 points...
St. Louis D Darren Rumble left in the second period with a hip pointer and did not return...
Colorado has held opponents to two goals or fewer in six of the last eight games...
Newly acquired D Alexei Gusarov, former member of the Avalanche, had two assists for St. Louis, his first points with the Blues.
First Period: Scoring: 1, Colorado, Sakic 38 (Tanguay, Hejduk), 6:52. 2, Colorado, Hejduk 37 (Sakic, Tanguay), 13:28. 3, St. Louis, Reirden 2 (power play) (Gusarov, Drake), 15:29. 4, St. Louis, Reasoner 4 (Gusarov), 19:39. Penalties: Mayers, Stl (hooking), 0:23; Drury, Col (roughing), 4:28; Drake, Stl (charging), 4:28; Parker, Col (fighting major), 7:07; Low, Stl (fighting major), 7:07; Forsberg, Col (boarding), 9:57; Podein, Col (roughing), 14:07; de Vries, Col (roughing), 16:47; Young, Stl (roughing), 16:47; Tanguay, Col (tripping), 17:26.
Second Period: Scoring: 5, Colorado, Sakic 39 (Hejduk, Blake), 3:54. 6, Colorado, Nieminen 11 (Drury, Blake), 13:09. 7, Colorado, Reinprecht 13 (Skoula), 17:48. Penalties: Forsberg, Col (slashing), 4:25; Hecht, Stl (slashing), 15:17.
Third Period: Scoring: None. Penalties: Blake, Col (holding the stick), 0:35; Drury, Col (obstruction holding), 6:29; Johnson, Stl (served by Low) (roughing), 9:41; Conroy, Stl (high sticking), 15:48.
Shots on Goal: Colorado1098-27St. Louis798-24 Power-play Conversions: Colorado - 0 of 4, St. Louis - 1 of 6. Goalies: Colorado, Roy (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 34-10-6). St Louis, Turek (19 shots, 14 saves; record: 21-14-6), Johnson (0:00 of 3rd, 8 shots, 8 saves). A: 19,831. Referees: McGeough, Shick. Linesmen: G Devorski, Rody.
