Blues suffer 3-1 loss at home to Avalanche

ST. LOUIS -- Eric Messier, Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk scored and Patrick Roy made 19 saves to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

The Avalanche ended a three-game winless streak (0-1-2) and extended their winning streak in St. Louis to five games.

Pavol Demitra scored for the Blues, who haven't beaten the Avalanche in St. Louis since Feb. 25, 2000. The loss snapped a two-game home winning streak for St. Louis, which has lost five of its last eight overall since it went on a nine-game winning streak.

Messier gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 7:03 of the second when he slipped the puck past Tom Barasso. The goal was the third of the season for Messier, and his first since Oct. 27 against Minnesota.

St. Louis scored the first goal of the game at 7:05 of the first period. With Colorado's Alex Tanguay in the penalty box for goaltender interference, Demitra redirected Al MacInnis' shot past Roy. The goal was Demitra's fourth of the season.

Sakic tied it for Colorado at 18:50 of the second period. He was left alone in front of Barasso and took a pass from Adam Foote. Sakic put the puck just beneath the crossbar for his 13th of the season.

Hejduk's goal, his 10th of the season, came on the power play at 5:16 of the third. Derek Morris gave Hejduk a cross-ice pass that caught Barasso out of position. Hejduk put the puck into the open net.

Roy has started six of Colorado's last seven games, and is 2-2-2 during that span.

Barasso, who made his fourth start since signing as a free agent on Nov. 4, stopped 27 shots. He is 1-2-1 on the season.