ST. LOUIS (AP) – Jack Skille and John Mitchell scored in the first period and Semyon Varlamov made a season-high 42 saves to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Carl Soderberg added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds remaining to seal Colorado’s fifth win in seven games.

Varlamov stopped the first 36 shots until Vladimir Tarasenko spoiled his shutout bid with a power-play goal with 7:05 remaining. It was Tarasenko’s team-high 18th of the season.

Jake Allen, starting for the second straight day, had 15 saves for the Blues, who fell to 2-4-1 in December.