DENVER, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Rob Blake, Stephane Yelle and Joe Sakic all scored first-period goals Monday night as the Colorado Avalanche jumped out to an early lead and held to beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2.
Blake got Colorado off to a quick start when his slap shot from the right point went past John Grahame just 1:31 into the contest.
Yelle made it 2-0 at 11:08 when he tallied an unassisted goal, his fourth of the season. He skated down the left side and, after faking defenseman Don Sweeney to the ice, cut across the crease and slipped a backhander around Grahame.
Sakic gave the Avalanche a three-goal lead when he tallied his scored 19th of the campaign with 5:32 left in the period. It was Sakic's fifth goal in six games following his career-high 18-game goal-scoring drought.
Sergei Samsonov and Per-Johan Axelsson got Boston within 3-2 in the second period on goals at just over eight minutes apart, but Vadim Vrbata gave Colorado a two-goal cushion just 91 seconds later when he knocked home the rebound of a shot by Alex Tanguay.
Dan Hinote added an insurance goal with 3:35 left in the game, his fifth of the season. After receiving a feed from Blake,
Hinote batted home his own rebound.
Boston, which plays at Vancouver on
Tuesday before the Winter Olympics break,
was held to a season-low 18 shots in the only meeting between the two teams season.
The loss snapped the Bruins' six-game unbeaten streak (5
1).
Colorado, which hosts St. Louis on Wednesday before the break, is 5
1-0 in its last six contests against the Bruins. It
was the seventh time this season the Avalanche had held an opponent to 20 or fewer shots.
