Avalanche's Valeri Nichushkin: Summons hats against Blues

Nichushkin scored three goals on six shots in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Blues.

Nichushkin ended a six-game goal drought in a big way. The 30-year-old winger scored twice in the first 3:26 of the contest and then completed his hat trick with 3:54 left in the third period. Nichushkin is up to 11 goals and 26 points over 31 appearances, and he had 14 points in as many outings in December. He's also supplied 84 shots on net, 26 hits and a plus-9 rating this season.