Avalanche bury Wild

ST. PAUL (AP) -- The Colorado Avalanche left their three-game losing streak in Denver.

David Aebischer made 24 saves for his second straight shutout, rookie forward Radim Vrbata scored three goals and Alex Tanguay added two as the Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 6-0 Friday night.

Aebischer was making his second start in 13 games, in place of Patrick Roy.

"I try to be as sharp as possible and work as hard as possible in practice," Aebischer said. "I'm happy to be here in the league and playing, and I'm trying to make the most of my chances. Patrick helps me a lot with that."

Roy will start Saturday's game against Chicago, while Aebischer joins Switzerland's Olympic team for its first game the same night in Salt Lake City.

"I've been waiting for that for a long time," Aebischer said. "I've been watching the Olympics since I was a little kid, and now I get my chance to play in them. I'll have so much adrenaline flowing in my body that I will not feel tired."

The Avalanche, unbeaten in their last six road games, scored three power-play goals in the first period. Colorado hadn't played since a 3-1 home loss to Detroit on Monday night.

Vrbata, a 20-year-old from the Czech Republic, scored once in each period for his first career hat trick, which was also the first ever allowed by the Wild.

"I thought it was nice when I scored the first one," Vrbata said. "When I scored the second one, I said 'This is awesome game tonight.' The third one, (Ville Nieminen) put it right on my stick -- it was easy."

Colorado coach Bob Hartley put his team through several tough, back-to-basics practices during the three-day break.

"The boys were sharp tonight," Hartley said.

Rob Blake had the third Colorado goal in the first period.

"After the All-Star break our play slipped a little," Blake said. "We had six wins in a row and got comfortable with our play. Sometimes you need a little wakeup call."

The Wild lost their fifth straight and have won just once in 14 games. They've scored two goals or less in 17 of their past 19.

"Maybe a loss like this might be good for us," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "It's something different. We've been in real close games lately. We have been getting a lot of scoring chances, but just not putting it in. The guys have to stay positive and we will get out of this rut we are in."

Notes: Minnesota's Manny Fernandez, who has given up 17 goals in five straight losses, was pulled after the first period for Dwayne Roloson. ... Saturday's game is the first of nine straight -- interrupted by the Olympic break -- that the Avalanche will play at home. Colorado's next road game isn't until March 11. ... Adam Foote had three assists for Colorado.

Colorado 3 1 2 -- 6

Minnesota 0 0 0 -- 0

First Period--1, Colorado, Vrbata 7 (Drury, Foote), 5:27 (pp). 2, Colorado, Tanguay 9 (Foote, Hejduk), 14:52 (pp). 3, Colorado, Blake 13 (Tanguay, Sakic), 17:54 (pp). Penalties--Gaborik, Min (interference), 4:18; Sekeras, Min (high-sticking), 13:04; Drury, Col (holding), 15:14; Dowd, Min (tripping), 16:51.

Second Period--4, Colorado, Vrbata 8 (Drury, Nieminen), 3:02. Penalties--Hinote, Col (holding), 10:19; Marshall, Min (cross-checking), 10:19; Hinote, Col (holding), 15:07.

Third Period--5, Colorado, Vrbata 9 (Nieminen, Foote), 6:37. 6, Colorado, Tanguay 10 (Sakic, Hejduk), 7:17. Penalties--Messier, Col (tripping), 3:53; Nieminen, Col (boarding), 8:21.

Shots on goal--Colorado 12-5-9--26. Minnesota 4-10-10--24.

Power-play Opportunities--Colorado 3 of 3; Minnesota 0 of 4.

Goalies--Colorado, Aebischer 9-5-0 (24 shots-24 saves). Minnesota, Fernandez 9-16-3 (12-9), Roloson (0:00 second, 14-11).

A--18,568 (18,064).

Referees--Shane Heyer, Kevin Maguire. Linesmen--Troy Sartison, Jonny Murray.