Avalanche bury Blues with nine-goal outburst

~ Colorado collected its 1,000th franchise victory, winning 9-5.

DENVER -- Milan Hejduk notched his fifth-career hat trick and added three assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the St. Louis Blues 9-5 on Sunday night.

Paul Stastny had two goals and three assists, Ryan Smyth had a goal and two assists and Wojtek Wolski had two goals for the Avalanche, who won the 1,000th game in franchise history and did it with the highest goal tally in the league so far this season.

Colorado's nine goals were the most in a game since Jan. 4, 2007, when Toronto beat Boston 10-2 and San Jose beat Detroit 9-4.

Jay McClement scored two goals for the Blues, and Lee Stempniak had a goal and an assist.

Colorado scored five times in the second period to blow open the game. Hejduk broke open a 1-1 tie, and after McClement tied the game again, Stastny, Wolski, Brett Clark and Smyth scored in a hurry for the Avalanche.

Stastny's goal broke a 2-all tie with 9:59 left in the period. Wolski and Clark scored 3:10 apart, and Smyth's wraparound goal, his ninth of the season, made it 6-2 with 2:33 left in the frame.

St. Louis goalie Hannu Toivonen faced only eight shots in the first period but was blitzed in the second. He allowed the five goals on 15 shots and was replaced by Marek Schwarz to start the third period. Toivonen returned at 3:05 of the third period.

Toivonen came back after the Blues made it a game. Doug Weight scored his seventh goal 24 seconds into the third, and David Perron scored a minute later to cut Colorado's lead to two goals.

The Avalanche chased Toivonen again after Stastny's scored his 13th goal of the season and Hejduk completed his hat trick with 7:44 left. Toivonen surrendered eight goals on 25 shots.

The Blues took a 1-0 lead in the first period when McClement took a cross-ice pass from Stempniak and put it over Jose Theodore's shoulder from the right circle. The Avalanche tied it when Smyth stole the puck in the Blues' zone and fed Hejduk.