Avalanche 5, Sabres 1: Alex Tanguay recorded two goals and an assist while Jarome Iginla set up three tallies as visiting Colorado won for only the second time in eight games.

John Mitchell returned from injured reserve to add a goal and an assist in his first action in three weeks for the Avalanche, who had scored six times in their previous four games. Defenseman Erik Johnson - who also had an assist - and Cody McLeod scored in the opening eight minutes while rookie Calvin Pickard finished with 28 saves.

Jhonas Enroth turned aside 18 shots for Buffalo, which has been outscored 10-2 in consecutive losses following a four-game winning streak. Johan Larsson scored his first NHL goal at 13:27 of the third as the Sabres lost for the second time in their last 10 home games.

Colorado needed a little more than seven minutes to score twice, matching the output of its previous 130 minutes. Johnson beat Enroth to the stick side off a nice feed from Nathan MacKinnon in the slot just 2:23 into the contest, and McLeod tapped home Ryan O’Reilly’s pass during a 2-on-1 short-handed rush at 7:07 for a 2-0 lead.

Tanguay fired a wrist shot past Enroth at 1:51 of the third with assists going to Iginla and Mitchell, who had not played since Nov. 29 due to a leg injury. Mitchell’s one-timer at 5:09 made it 4-0 and Tanguay completed his first two-goal performance of the season with an empty-netter at 19:34.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Colorado C Max Talbot picked up his 100th career assist on Johnson's goal. ... Larsson was recalled from Rochester of the American Hockey League earlier in the day as the Sabres placed C Cody McCormick (lower body) on injured reserve. … Pickard has stopped 177-of-186 shots in his last five games.