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Brassard, Chimera lift Blue Jackets past Avalanche

Oct 31, 2008 - 4:59 AM By Dave Reed PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- Derick Brassard and Jason Chimera each recorded a goal and an assist as the Columbus Blue Jackets scored three times in the second period en route to a 4-2 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

Defenseman Jan Hejda and Andrew Murray also tallied and Fredrik Norrena made 30 saves for Columbus, which snapped a three-game losing streak in which it netted just four goals.

Paul Stastny scored with 90 seconds remaining in the second period and Tyler Arnason tallied with 87 seconds left in the third for Colorado, which has lost consecutive contests after posting a five-game winning streak.

Andrew Raycroft turned aside just 10 of 14 shots before being relieved to start the third period by Peter Budaj, who made three saves.

"Obviously, there is a lot to work on still," Raycroft said. "You just go out tomorrow morning and work hard. There's nothing you can do about it now."

Brassard opened the scoring 98 seconds into the contest, when his wrist shot from the right faceoff circle sailed past Raycroft and inside the right goalpost for his fourth tally of the season.

"I heard (teammate Michael) Peca say before the game to try to go high on him," Brassard said. "When I came in on the wing, I just shot the puck. I tried to go high, and it worked.

"The first goal was important because we knew their offense had three good lines that could score, and a good fourth line."

Chimera doubled the advantage 8 1/2 minutes into the second period, as he skated into the offensive zone, stopped in the right circle and beat Raycroft high to the glove side with a slap shot. An assist on the play gave Brassard his first career multi-point game.

"Brassard made a good play to get it to me," Chimera said of his 50th goal with the Blue Jackets. "I saw the top corner and tried to shoot it there. Sometimes it goes there and sometimes it doesn't. Fortunately, it went in for me today."

Murray extended the lead to 3-0 nearly 5 1/2 minutes later, when his shot from behind the end line slipped past Raycroft, and Hejda gave Columbus a four-goal cushion nearly three minutes afterward.

"Our defense and goaltending was really good today," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "Our six defensemen were excellent, gave us a real opportunity. They really kept things to the outside. We were opportunistic on our scoring.

"Our record is not indicative of our play. We've played a lot better than our record is. This is now four solid games in a row."

Colorado scored for the first time in nearly five full periods when Stastny beat Norrena from the right circle for his third goal of the season.

"Give them credit, they played a perfect road game," said Colorado captain Joe Sakic, who set up Stastny's goal. "They really didn't give us much. They really collapsed and they didn't give up too many scoring chances."

After scoring 28 times in their first seven games, the Avalanche have tallied twice in the past two contests. Colorado was shut out, 3-0, in Calgary on Tuesday after defeating Buffalo, 2-1, in a shootout on Saturday.