(Sports Network) - Ian Laperriere and Daniel Tjarnqvist both registered a goal and an assist, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at the Pepsi Center. Ryan Smyth added a power-play marker and Peter Budaj stopped 21 shots for the Avalanche, who have won two of their last three games.

"When the team struggles, we need to work harder and dirtier," Laperriere said. "Tonight we were cycling and keeping possession of the puck. We need the two points. We have a lot of ground to gain."

Keith Tkachuk lit the lamp and Manny Legace gave up three goals on 28 shots for the Blues, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.

"We've got to rely on the grinding game when we have so many players out," said Tkachuk.

Tjarnqvist opened the scoring at 11:20 of the first period, but Tkachuk evened the score 4:52 into the middle stanza. Eric Brewer had the puck along the left boards and sent a backhand feed into the slot for Tkachuk, who hammered it home.

Smyth restored the lead for Colorado, redirecting a one-time blast by Jordan Leopold midway through the second period.

The gritty Laperriere gave the Avs some breathing room at 8:11 of the third period. He raced into the attacking zone, accepted a pass from Tyler Arnason and fired a wrister from the high slot that beat Legace on the stick side.

St. Louis was awarded a four-minute power play when Colorado center T.J. Hensick was called for high-sticking with exactly four minutes to go in regulation. Budaj made several big stops and received some help from the post. Early on in the man advantage David Perron clanged a shot off the iron.

Game Notes

Tjarnqvist notched his first goal since December 28, 2006. The defenseman played in Russia last season...Colorado captain Joe Sakic returned from a six- game absence (back/tooth)...Legace entered Wednesday with a 13-2-0 record, a 2.00 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in 16 career games (15 starts) against Colorado...St. Louis forward Paul Kariya missed his ninth straight game with a lower-body injury...Colorado forward Paul Stastny faced his brother Yan for the first time in an NHL game.



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