(SportsNetwork.com) - The Colorado Avalanche slowly improved during the first month of the season and the Avs will try to record consecutive wins for the first time in 2014-15 when they visit the surging St. Louis Blues on Saturday. Colorado was shut out by Minnesota in its first two games of the season and had a 1-4-1 mark after six outings. It was a far cry from 2013-14 when rookie head coach Patrick Roy led the club to a 12-1-0 mark out of the gate en route to a surprise Central Division title. Although the Avalanche have only won twice over the last five games, they enter Saturday riding a point streak with a 2-0-3 mark to end October. Colorados best effort of the season likely came in its last game, as the Avs recorded a 5-0 win in Thursdays meeting with the visiting New York Islanders. Semyon Varlamov stopped all 40 shots he faced to record his first shutout of the season, and Nathan MacKinnon added a pair of second-period goals. Both players were big parts of last seasons run to the playoffs, with MacKinnon winning the Calder Trophy and Varlamov garnering a Vezina finalist spot. MacKinnon led all NHL rookies with 63 points last season and was tied for the lead with 24 goals. He scored his first two goals of 2014-15 on Thursday. Tonight was a huge win. And our goaltender was an MVP tonight, MacKinnon said. Erik Johnson, Marc-Andre Cliche and Cody McLeod also provided offense for the Avalanche. With Colorado also set to play Sundays home game versus Anaheim, Varlamov could get a rest this weekend from backup Reto Berra. The Blues, meanwhile, will go with Brian Elliott in net as the club tries to extend its season-high winning streak to four games. After picking up consecutive wins over Chicago and Dallas, the Blues kept their hot streak going with Thursdays 2-0 victory over visiting Anaheim. Jake Allen made 24 saves to record his second career shutout, while Alexander Steen and Ryan Reaves scored the games only goals. St. Louis has played its best hockey of the season of late despite dealing with injuries to key players as well as a bacterial infection that has spread throughout the team. Center Paul Stastny has missed the last five games with a sprained left shoulder, while fellow forwards David Backes and T.J. Oshie sat out Thursday and are both sidelined indefinitely with concussions. Blues center Joakim Lindstrom is questionable for Saturday after becoming the latest St. Louis player to catch an illness. Lindstrom sat out Thursdays win due to flu-like symptoms. Every team in the League is going to have losses (to injuries) all season long, and unfortunately we have them right now, Allen said after his teams win over the Ducks. Elliott is 3-2-1 with a 1.98 goals against average this season, and he has the same exact record and a 2.81 GAA in six career games against Colorado. St. Louis won three of four encounters against the Avs in 2013-14, but Colorado earned a 4-0 victory when the clubs last met on April 5. That win halted Colorados five-game road losing streak against the Blues, but St. Louis has claimed six of the last nine meetings overall Glenn Hall Jersey . His stated reason for abruptly resigning as head coach of Canadas Olympic womens hockey team was he felt there were doubts about his ability to coach the team to Olympic gold in February. 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He was invited to the Houston Texans rookie camp, but was not offered a contract.VIGGIANO, Italy -- A powerful final burst from Diego Ulissi helped the Italian cyclist win the fifth stage of the Giro dItalia on Wednesday, while Australian rider Michael Matthews retained the overall leaders pink jersey. Ulissi came from behind with 150 metres to go to cross the line solo, with his arms raised high in celebration at the end of the 203-kilometre (126-mile) leg from Taranto to Viggiano. Australias Cadel Evans was second, with Julian David Arredondo Moreno of Colombia third, both of them in a group which crossed a second behind Ulissi in the first uphill finish of this years Giro. "Starting as the big favourite is always difficult. I showed I was ready," Ulissi said. "So Im enjoying this moment. I wanted this win too against the big names who were up there in the finale of the stage." Weather again played a part, with wet and windy conditions, although there was sunshine on the five-kilometre (three-mile) climb to the finish. Matthews fought hard to stay near the front in the final kilometre and finished sixth. He will wear the pink jersey for a fourth day, a record for an Australian cyclist. The Orica-GreenEdge rider extended his lead to 14 seconds, with Dutchman Pieter Weening moving into second spot. Evans is third. "I think the boys rode really well alll day, they worked hard to keep me out of the wind and of problems," Matthews said.dddddddddddd "I still havent won a stage, which I really wanted, but Im still in the pink jersey and well try again to fight to win tomorrows stage." Former champion Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria is 69th while Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C., is 171st. There was an early break of 11 riders and, although their lead rose and fell at several points, the Orica-led peloton was happy to control the gap to an average of four minutes. There were several attempted breaks up front with 30km (18.6 miles) to go, but none stuck and the group was back together on the penultimate climb -- the first ascent up to Viggiano -- just before the slippery roads caused the first big crash of the day. There were several more crashes as the rain made the tight and technical descent even trickier. Gianluca Brambilla attacked bravely on the descent, opening up a 30-second advantage, but Joaquin Rodriguezs Katusha team chased him down and he was caught on the final climb, setting up the scintillating finish. Thursdays stage is another hilly finish, up to Monte Cassino, the site of a major World War II battle. At 247km (153.5 miles), it is the second longest stage of this years race. The Giro ends in Trieste on June 1. ' ' '