Avs beat Blues 5-3, sweep season series
Peter Budaj made 36 saves and Peter Mueller scored 2 goals to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the St. Louis Blues 5-3 Tuesday night. The win gave the Avs a sweep of the four game season series.
With the win Colorado moved into 5th place in the Western Conference. St. Louis dropped to 11th with the loss.
St. Louis, playing their first home game after the Olympic break, scored off the opening face off. Alex Steen beat Budaj at the eight second mark to give the Blues the lead.
Peter Mueller got the Avs on the board when his slap shot from the top of the left face off circle beat Blues goalie Chris Mason. The power play goal came at 14:19.
Milan Hejduk gave the Avs the lead at 17:20. Taking a pass from Matt Duchene, he cut across the front of the St. Louis net and beat Mason to end the first period with the score 2-1 Avalanche.
The Blues started the second period the way they began the game, scoring 34 seconds in. Andy McDonald sent a pass across the crease to Patrik Berglund, who had an easy shot to beat Budaj.
Paul Stastny put the Avs back in the lead at 7:14 when he took a pass from T.J. Galiardi at the edge of the St. Louis crease and tipped the puck past Mason.
Peter Mueller took a pass from Matt Duchene, who was working behind the Blues goal, and beat Mason to give the Avs a 4-2 lead at 8:43.
David Perron pulled the Blues to within one at 11:06 when he knocked the rebound of an Andy McDonald shot past Budaj. The second period ended 4-3 Colorado.
Chris Stewart took a pass from Paul Stastny, broke down the slot and fired a wrist shot that beat Mason at 17:14 of the third period to make the final score 5-3.
Peter Budaj was solid in his first start in 24 games, especially in the third period, when the Blues fired 14 shots.is record is now 5-4-1.
NOTES
-With two goals and an assist Peter Mueller extended his scoring streak to eight games (all seven he has played with Colorado, plus his last game with Phoenix). He has scored 11 points in 7 games with Colorado after scoring 17 points in 54 games with Phoenix.
NEXT
-The Avs host Calgary Wednesday.
Bruce Wilkie is a Colorado semi-native, having moved to Denver in 1971. He has worked with pro and college hockey teams since 1975 and now covers the Avs for thehockeywriters.com.
