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DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche grabbed headlines with their fast start this season. The St. Louis Blues are proving to be a good story, too. Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves, David Backes had a goal and an assist and the streaking Blues beat Colorado 4-1 on Wednesday night. Alexander Steen scored his 20th of the season and Jaden Schwartz also had a goal for the Blues, who have won five straight. It was their first victory in Colorado since April 12, 2009. "I cant tell you the last time we won in this barn, so obviously coming here, its big getting two points," said Chris Stewart, who was playing for Colorado when St. Louis last won in Denver. "I think I was on the receiving end last time this team won in this barn, so its a big two points." The Blues lead the NHL with 18 wins more than a quarter of the way through the season. Semyon Varlamov stopped 31 shots and Patrick Bordeleau scored for the Avalanche, who had won three in a row. Colorado coach Patrick Roy was angry after the game with what he considered a double standard. Roy, hired by the Avalanche from the Quebec Major Junior League last summer, took some criticism earlier this season for talking to opposing players during the game. He took issue Wednesday with St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock. "I was very mad at the end because Ive been jabbed by different coaches around the league, especially Hitchcock when he said thats junior, stop talking to players and talking to the referee," Roy said. "But I saw a guy on the other side who was talking to players and was also talking to the referee. He got the referee even (angry). Seems to me theres different rules for everybody in this league. "I guess the old guys are allowed to do whatever they want and I guess us, because were younger, we cant say anything. Im a little (mad) about that." Colorados 17-5-0 start was a franchise best this deep into the season, but the Blues have been the better team lately. They have won 10 of 12 and earned points in 11 of those games. "We are sticking to the way we play. We have been for the last little while," Steen said. "Pucks are bouncing our way, we are taking care in our own end and our goaltending has been phenomenal." St. Louis is 4-1 in one-goal games during its recent run and has averaged 3.4 goals. "Our 5-on-5 play is getting better and our special teams have really carried us," Hitchcock said. One of the wins in that stretch was a 7-3 victory over Colorado on Nov. 14, which came in the middle of a three-game skid for the Avalanche. St. Louis dominated that game from the start of the second period, and that continued Wednesday. The Blues had the first seven shots, and goals by Backes and Steen in the first 6:10 of the game gave them a quick two-goal lead. Backes scored when he redirected T.J. Oshies pass on a rush 2:46 into the first period. Steen made it 2-0 with a power-play goal, which tied him with Washingtons Alex Ovechkin for the overall NHL lead. "We havent had good history in this building the past few years, so we needed to set the tone," Backes said. "Oshie makes a great pass and I found a piece of it and it found a hole." After being outshot 9-1 to that point, Colorado pushed back and got on the board when Bordeleau stuffed in a rebound midway through the first. The Avalanche had several chances to tie it, but Schwartzs short-handed goal with 1:48 left in the period made it 3-1 and stopped Colorados momentum. "We lost the game in the first 10 minutes," Matt Duchene said. "If we played a little better in the first 10 there, even giving up that shorty late in the first period there we go into the next period with a 2-1 deficit, its a different game." The Avalanche failed to mount a comeback in the final two periods. They were held to 14 shots in the last 40 minutes, with four coming in the final 5 minutes of the game. They had two on a power play and two more after pulling Varlamov for an extra skater, but Stewart sealed it with an empty-net goal with 1:44 left. "In general, we played a really sound game," Hitchcock said. "We managed the puck properly, we just did a lot of things good. We had a lot of guys on top of their game." NOTES: Blues C Derek Roy had two assists. ... Avalanche C Paul Stastny missed the game due to back spasms. ... Duchene returned to the lineup after missing three games with an oblique strain. ... Steen has 99 goals as a member of the Blues. ... St. Louis short-handed goal was its first of the season. It also was the first short-handed goal allowed by Colorado. Adidas Zx 750 Mujer .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. http://www.adidas-zapatillas.es/adidas-originals-s...rstar.h tml . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. http://www.adidas-zapatillas.es/adidas-stan-smith.html .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. http://www.adidas-zapatillas.es/adidas-stan-smith.html .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Adidas Superstar 2 Blancas . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil.VANCOUVER - Eddie Lack helped the Vancouver Canucks overcome a case of the blues Wednesday night. Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. The win was like sweet music to the Canucks (28-24-9) as they ended their losing streak at seven games while moving into sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Blues (39-13-6) dropped their third straight decision to Vancouver this season as they were shut out for the first time in 2013-14. "It feels very good to be able to shut the door," said Lack. "It was very big for our team. "Its a big relief." The Canucks outshot the Blues 35-20, but Lack, Vancouvers backup who is in his first full NHL season, was forced to make many difficult saves. "I feel like I have been working on this start for a while and I was really excited to play, and Rollie (Melanson, Vancouvers goalie coach) has been bugging me for weeks saying we need to win these 1-0 games, so its huge," said Lack. Jannik Hansen scored the games only goal as he finally broke a scoreless deadlock at 11:13 of the third period. He took a backhand stretch pass from Tom Sestito from deep in the Vancouver zone just past centre ice, raced in on a breakaway and beat Halak with a high shot. It was Hansens first goal in just over a month, a span of eight games, after he last scored Jan. 26 against Phoenix. "Great play by Tommy, he could see I was taking off a little early and he fed me a nice pass, and I was able to get it through the goalie," said Hansen. "You dont have to look at the standings very long to see we need to win a lot of games here to make the playoffs, and its obviously a very strong opponent today, a playoff team. These are the teams you have to beat. We cant just beat the teams below us." Vancouver was blanked on four power plays while St. Louis failed to score on three. Lack drew the start after backstopping the Canucks to a pair of wins over St. Louis earlier this season. Three of his nine wins have come against the Blues, and he has allowed only three goals to them. The Canucks came out with the added aggression that coach John Tortorella has been seeking as they outshot the Blues 14-6 in the first period. But for most of the night, the hosts could not beat a steady Halak, who felt fresh after playing just two games for Slovakia in the Olympics and getting plenty of rest after arriving back in St. Louis last Thursday. "It was a pretty good pace for 60 minutes," said Halak. "It was just that we came up short. We couldnt score. "I tried to do my best. I tried to give the guys a chance to win. Id like to get (Hansens goal) back." St. Louis had nine players in Sochi and the Canucks hhad seven.dddddddddddd But Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who served as an assistant with Canadas gold-medal-winning team, did not think post-Olympic fatigue was a factor. "It was a hard fought, well played game for the most part," said Hitchcock. "I didnt think we had the energy in the third period than we did in the end of the first and the second. We had a great second period. But weve had trouble beating (Lack.) We havent scored on him, and hes made some big saves and hes won a lot of the scrambles. We had all the penetration in the second period for all the scoring chances." Hitchcock lamented his teams inability to score on odd-man rushes in two losses in Vancouver this season. "When you get two-on-ones and three-on-ones on the road, youve got to capitalize," he said. "I think that was the difference in the hockey game." Lacks best moments came late in the second period as he denied Blues captain David Backes on a one-timer during a delayed penalty and Alex Steen on a deflection, and got his pad on a T.J. Oshie shot before defenceman Alex Edler blocked the puck as he attempted to put in the rebound. After the save, fans chanted "Eddie! Eddie!" But Oshie, who played for the U.S. in the Olympics, was not willing to give Lack too much credit. "He made some good saves, but I dont think we really tested him like we could have," said Oshie. "We let him see a lot of pucks." There was no denying Vancouvers desperation though. "Theyre a desperate team right now," said Halak. "For them, every game is a playoff game. They need to get every point that they can." Notes: Olympians from both teams were honoured in a pre-game ceremony. Blues defencemen Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo drew loud cheers from the crowd when they were saluted, along with Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis and goaltender Roberto Luongo, for helping Canada win the 2014 Olympic gold medal. … Tortorella worked his first home game since receiving a six-game suspension for storming the Calgary Flames dressing room area Jan. 18. … Canucks captain Henrik Sedin returned to action after suffering an undisclosed injury before the Olympics. He missed the past two practices while tending to a personal matter in Sweden, but returned Wednesday in time for the game. Defenceman Kevin Bieksa returned after missing five games before the Olympic break with a foot injury. … Vancouver centre Ryan Kesler sat out with a hand injury suffered while playing for the U.S. in the Olympics. Canucks defencemen Chris Tanev (thumb) and Andrew Alberts (concussion) remained out. … Blues defenceman Jordan Leopold missed the game due to an ankle injury. 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