Phoenix 4, Colorado 1

Radim Vrbata scored a pair of goals for the second straight game and Mike Smith turned aside 39 shots as the Phoenix Coyotes cruised to a 4-1 win over the host Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.

Vrbata, a seventh-round pick of the Avalanche in 1999, burned his former team yet again as the Coyotes earned their third straight win. The veteran forward has 12 goals in 22 career games against Colorado, which fell to 1-4 at home this season.

After Taylor Pyatt opened the scoring 7:53 into the opening period, Vrbata extended the advantage at 17:57 of the second by banging a rebound past Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov.

Ryan O'Reilly made it a one-goal game just 26 seconds later, but Phoenix restored the two-goal advantage 24 seconds into the third period on a Lauri Korpikoski shot that beat Varlamov up high from in close.

Vrbata put the game away with a late empty-netter, giving him four goals and three assists in his last three games.

• Colorado will play their next game on the road against Colorado . The Avalanche have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .750 after a loss.
• Phoenix will play their next game at home against Nashville . The Coyotes have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .600 after a loss.