Blues Beat Avalanche, Blackhawks Edge Stars

By ESPN

Robby Fabbri was slow to rediscover his scoring touch early in his second NHL season.

He finally got his first goal of 2016-17 in the first period Sunday night, and the St. Louis Blues followed with a long-awaited offensive barrage.

Fabbri and Jori Lehtera each scored in the first 3:35 and the Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-1.

"It felt like my first goal last year," said Fabbri, who had 18 goals as a rookie. "It's nice to get that weight off my shoulders."

St. Louis entered with 26 goals in 12 games this season and hadn't scored more than two goals in any of its past six games.

"We knew goals were going to come," Blues goalie Jake Allen said. "Tonight, the tide's turned a little bit and that's nice."

Allen stopped 22 shots for St. Louis, and the Blues killed off five power plays.

The Blues have won 10 of their last 12 games against Colorado dating to April 2011.

Matt Duchene got his sixth goal for Colorado. Semyon Varlamov had stopped 20 of 25 shots, and Calvin Pickard had three saves in the third period for the Avs.

Fabbri scored 1:37 into the first on a 2-on-1 break with Dmitrij Jaskin, beating Varlamov to the short side.

Lehtera scored from the slot off a pass from Carl Gunnarsson, getting his first goal 3:35 in.

"The first period today was the best period we played all year," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Our puck pursuit, our tenacity, our secondary forecheck was excellent. We looked like a team right on the mark.

"Man, we did a lot of things right. You draw up the game plan and that's exactly what you want. I was really happy with how we played in the first period."

After Duchene made it 2-1 by tipping Francois Beauchemin's shot 6:38 into the second, Jaden Schwartz deflected a slap shot by Alexander Steen with 5:06 left in the period and Scottie Upshall buried a back-handed pass from Ryan Reaves about two minutes later.

"It was a great pass," Upshall said. "Our fourth line has been working hard lately and getting some chances. It was nice to chip in."

David Perron scored with 54 seconds left in the second on a shot that deflected off Varlamov's glove and shoulder.

Varlamov was not happy with his performance.

"You saw what happened. I gave up five goals," Varlamov said. "It is my fault. I'll take it."

The Avalanche have totaled three goals in their last four games.

Blackhawks 4, Stars 3

The Blackhawks appeared to be in big trouble when Patrick Kane was whistled for hooking in overtime, handing a power play to the potent Dallas Stars.

Then Scott Darling came up with a huge stop, and Marian Hossa finished another big win for Chicago.

Darling made a terrific kick save on Patrick Eaves, Hossa scored at 4:31 of overtime and the Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Sunday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

"It took every inch of me to get that one," the 6-foot-6 Darling said.

Jonathan Toews had a goal and two assists and Kane scored for the third time in four games, helping the Blackhawks sweep the home-and-home set with the Stars. Kane had a goal and an assist in Saturday night's 3-2 victory in Dallas.

"We've been focusing really well on the process of just playing well and improving our overall game," Toews said. "A while back, the focus was our penalty kill had to get better. I think we've improved every single game."

Kane's second hooking call of the night set Dallas up with a prime opportunity in overtime. But Darling got over to knock away Eaves' shot, helping the Blackhawks to their 18th successful kill in their last 19 tries.

"He made a great save on me," Eaves said. "That was the look we wanted and it just didn't go in."

Hossa then drove one by a screened Kari Lehtonen for his sixth of the season. Darling, subbing for red-hot starter Corey Crawford, made 32 stops as the Blackhawks improved to 7-1-1 at home.

"The good thing is this team never quits," Hossa said. "Six wins in a row, I think we're on the right path."

Gemel Smith scored his first two NHL goals for Dallas, including a short-handed breakaway in the second. Tyler Seguin also scored in the opener of a five-game road trip.

"Those are hard losses," coach Lindy Ruff said. "We had our opportunity with the power play in overtime."

Sunday, November 6 Scoreboard

Edmonton 2, Detroit 1

St. Louis 5, Colorado 1

New Jersey 4, Carolina 1

New York Rangers 5, Winnipeg 2

Chicago 4, Dallas 3 (OT)

Anaheim 4, Calgary 1

Monday, November 7 Schedule (All Times Central)

Buffalo at Boston, 6 p.m.

Vancouver at New York Islanders, 6 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Florida, 6:30 p.m.