NHL roundup: Avs score 4 in first, shut out Blues

Jonathan Drouin had two goals and added an assist, Martin Necas scored his first goal with Colorado, and the Avalanche scored four in the first period to beat the St. Louis Blues 5-0 in Denver on Friday night.

Mackenzie Blackwood had 19 saves for his first shutout with Colorado and second this season. Cale Makar and Joel Kiviranta also scored to give Necas and Jack Drury a successful debut in Denver.

The Avalanche acquired Necas and Drury on Jan. 24 in a trade with Carolina. Colorado sent leading goal scorer Mikko Rantanen to the Hurricanes.

Joel Hofer turned away 31 shots for St. Louis, which has lost four in a row. The Blues have lost five of their last six games.

Stars 5, Canucks 3

Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz each scored twice in three-point performances to lead host Dallas over Vancouver.

Oskar Back also scored for the Stars, who have won four straight games. Goaltender Jake Oettinger delivered an excellent 26-save performance, especially over the first two periods.

Conor Garland, Jake DeBrusk and Carson Soucy replied for the Canucks, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped hours after trading away impact forward J.T. Miller. Goalie Thatcher Demko stopped 11 shots.

Sabres 4, Predators 3

Rookie Jiri Kulich scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal with 2:04 remaining, and Buffalo overcame blowing a 2-0 lead to beat visiting Nashville.

On the transition, Sabres star Tage Thompson sent a pass across the high slot for Kulich, who drilled a shot past Nashville goalie Justus Annunen (23 saves) to record his second two-goal game. The Sabres won consecutive games for just the second time in January.

Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist for Nashville, which has lost three in a row after winning five straight.

Blue Jackets 3, Utah Hockey Club 2 (OT)

Zach Werenski scored 1:01 into overtime and Columbus overcame a 2-0 third-period deficit to beat Utah in Salt Lake City.

Werenski finished off a two-on-none breakaway with Cole Sillinger after stealing the puck in the Utah zone. Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson also scored and Daniil Tarasov made 31 saves for Columbus, which has won three in a row, all in overtime.

Nick Schmaltz and Alexander Kerfoot scored, Clayton Keller logged two assists and Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves for Utah, which has lost four in a row (0-2-2) despite being tied or holding the lead during the third period of each contest.

--Field Level Media