NHL: St. Louis 3, Colorado 1

ST. LOUIS, April 6 (UPI) -- Kevin Shattenkirk had a goal and an assist and Jason Halak made 26 saves Tuesday in the St. Louis Blues' 3-1 victory over Colorado.

Andy McDonald and David Backes also scored for St. Louis, who have won five of their last seven but are nine points out of the playoffs.

Kevin Porter scored the only goal for the injury-plagued Avalanche, who had lost six of their last seven. Peter Budaj gave up two goals on 28 shots.

Backes put St. Louis ahead 1-0 on a tip-in at 14:55 of the first period off an assist from Shattenkirk.

Porter tied it 1-1 at 16:42, but that was the last goal the Avalanche would score. Shattenkirk put the Blues ahead on a power play at 4:07 of the second and McDonald closed it out with an empty-net insurance goal in the final seconds.