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ST. LOUIS -- After the Colorado Avalanche shut out the St. Louis Blues on the road, coach Patrick Roy was still throwing down. Roy called Blues captain David Backes "gutless" for wrestling young Nathan MacKinnon to the ice during one of several late dust-ups in a fracas and penalty-filled 4-0 victory on Saturday. Backes had been coming to the aid of defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk, whod been cut by a high stick. "It shows what kind of leader he is, if youre going to go after an 18-year-old," Roy said. "Gutless in my opinion. I mean, Shattenkirk hurt himself with his own stick. "His own stick hit him in the nose and he was bleeding and he made a pretty big act." The Blues didnt quite take the bait, preferring to forget about this one and get ready for a matinee Sunday at Chicago. "He always has something to say after every game," coach Ken Hitchcock said of Roy. "So you guys pick up what he wants. Im worried about my team and the way we played, OK?" Hitchcock did, however, suggest that forward Patrick Bordealeau left his feet on the check that hurt Shattenkirk when his stick was jammed into his face. Hitchcock also mused that he probably should have given rugged Ryan Reaves more ice time after the game had gotten out of hand and added that it was more important to get his team back on track rather than call Gabriel Landeskog "gutless or whatever." Hitchcock referred to the confrontations and likely aftermath as the "debris around the game." Backes said Roy was "entitled to his opinion." "There were some liberties, I feel like," Backes said. "I drop my glove and never throw a punch and end up with whatever many penalty minutes out of the ordeal. "Its frustration, everything boiling over for a lot of guys after they dont respond well." Semyon Varlamov tied the franchise single-season record for goalie wins held by Roy and Paul Stastny had another big game in his hometown in the penalty-filled game. The Avalanche avoided a season series sweep against St. Louis after losing the first three meetings. "Our power play was sharp, penalty kill was rock solid, goaltending was phenomenal again," Roy said. "I just felt like we dominated them." Stastny had a goal and two assists and Mackinnon had a goal and an assist for Colorado, which has won six in a row. Roy became the fifth coach in NHL history to win 50 games in his first season. "It was kind of a big game for us," Stastny said. "It got chippy at the end but we stood up to that and will deal with that." Varlamov made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and NHL-leading 40th win, matching Roys total in 2000-01. The Blues fell two points behind Boston, which beat the Flyers 5-2, for first place overall. Theyve been dependent on goalie Ryan Miller with Vladimir Tarasenko out since mid-March with a hand injury and Alexander Steen also sidelined, and scored two or fewer goals for the seventh time in 10 games. There were several scrums and frustration boiled over for the Blues late in the third. Ryan OReilly scored his 27th goal on a power play with a two-man advantage after Backes and Barret Jackman both received 10-minute misconducts. The Blues had 91 minutes in penalties in the third and finished the game with seven players on the bench. St. Louis has been shut out on home ice for the first two times all season in the past three games. Stastny, who grew up in St. Louis, has 30 points in 24 career games against the Blues. He has two goals and six assists in a seven-game point streak. The first five games in Colorados win streak were decided by one goal, two in overtime and two by shootouts. The first three goals against St. Louis came on rebounds. Stastny scored his 22nd goal on a power play at 1:14 of the second and MacKinnon had a wide open net at 6:20, a little more than a minute after Hitchcock called timeout. Nick Holden made it 3-0 at 10:25 after a lengthy review because he kicked the puck, but replays indicated the Blues Steve Otts stick touched the puck before it crossed the goal line. Notes: Roy is the first coach to win 50 games in his debut season since San Joses Todd McLellan won 53 games in 2008-09. ... Steen (lower body) did not dress for the second straight game and Hitchcock said hes also out Sunday. . Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here. .Brazil midfielder Ricardo Goulart scored the winner in the 50th minute to give the defending champion a four-point advantage in the standings over second-place Sao Paulo, which beat rival Palmeiras 2-0. http://www.broncosrookiestore.com/Bronc ... ersey/.com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak. . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. . This time, Tebow was in a groove the entire second half -- not just in the waning minutes -- and his teammates on defence were getting gobbled up.ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Ndamukong Suh was back with his teammates at practice, and he was almost done talking to reporters when he made an odd reference to the beginning of his career with the Detroit Lions. Suh says he could have played elsewhere when he entered the league. The Lions took him with the second overall pick in the 2010 draft. "Probably a lot of you guys dont know, I could have gone elsewhere when I was drafted. I had that decision in my hands," Suh said. "I chose not to take it, because thats just the way I saw it." Suh was responding to a question about whether he wants to stay with Detroit long term -- his point was that his decision to play for the Lions in the first place was evidence of his commitment. But he did not elaborate much when asked how, exactly, he might have ended up elsewhere four years ago. "Theres many ways to do things," Suh said. "You can drop down in the draft, you can move up in the draft. People can come get you. Theres a lot of things that happen that you guys dont know. ... It is for sure my choice, but like I said, thats water under the bridge, Im here in Detroit. Im happy to be here in Detroit, and Im going to continue to play my heart out, as Ive always done." Suh is entering the last season of his contract, so his future with the Lions is unclear. He skipped the teams voluntary minicamp last month, but hes stayed away from voluntary workouts before in his career. He is taking part in organized team activities now, and was at practice Wednesday. The two-time All-Pro has always gotten himself physically ready to play. "This is the same time I came last year," Suh said. "Ive been in a great program, one thats dialed in exactly to me and whats best for my body, to have longevity, which has been proven. I havent missed many gamees, if any at all.dddddddddddd So thats what I do. I stayed close to that program." Suh said his absence had nothing to do with contract talks. "If it was about my contract, I wouldnt be here now," he said. Suh says hes not putting a timetable on his contract negotiations. Suh said he was probably one of the first players on the team to meet with members of Detroits new coaching staff. The Lions fired Jim Schwartz and replaced him with Jim Caldwell after last season. And Suh isnt buying the idea that his absence during the off-season affects his ability to be a leader. Suh became a captain last season. "Last year I came in at the same exact time," Suh said. "I showed that I was worthy of wearing a C at that point in time." As for Caldwell, he seemed happy to move on from the constant questions about whether Suh would be participating in the teams off-season work. "He looks good, obviously. Hes in very fine shape, as always," Caldwell said. "Hes one of those guys -- he knows how to take care of his body. Hes certainly done a great job with that, and hes fit and excited about being here." Indeed, Suh looked ready to practice Wednesday, at one point knocking two blockers back almost into the quarterback during a drill. "Hes back and hes in full swing, and doing everything above and beyond," centre Dominic Raiola said. "I dont know if you guys watched practice close, but you can see him doing extra steps, taking extra conditioning measures, finishing down the field 40 yards. We see all that. If I see all that, I know everybody else sees all that." NOTES: Caldwell said WR Golden Tate was absent because he was with the Seattle Seahawks for their presidential visit. Tate played for the Super Bowl-winning Seahawks last season. ' ' '