Theodore leads Avalanche past Columbus

Jose Theodore made 26 saves to help the Colorado Avalanche beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Sunday night. Ben Guite, Tyler Arnason and rookie Jeff Finger each had a goal, and Ian Laperriere had two assists for the Avalanche, who split the four-game season series with Columbus.

Pascal Leclaire had 24 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the second straight night on the road. The Blue Jackets pulled Leclaire with 29.4 seconds left for an extra attacker but didn't score.

The Avalanche took the lead with 2:03 left in the first period when Finger blasted a shot from just inside the blue line past Leclaire for his fourth goal of the season.

The goal came a few minutes after Colorado had a great opportunity to score on the power play, but Leclaire made two good saves to keep the game scoreless.

Colorado made it 2-0 midway through the second period when Leclaire couldn't cover up a shot from the right circle by rookie David Jones. Guite scored his fourth goal of the season on his second swing at the loose puck.

It was Jones' first NHL point in his third career game.

Arnason gave Colorado a 3-0 lead with his fourth goal of the season and first since Nov. 7 just 3:33 into the third period. Forty seconds later, Frederik Modin made it 3-1 with his first goal of the year.

Theodore lost his bid for his second shutout of the season after making several good saves.

His best came against Rick Nash with 6:58 left in the second period. Nash came down the left side and had an open net, but Theodore slid over and made a sprawling glove save on Nash's backhand try.

Notes:@ Colorado D Jordan Leopold missed his second straight game with an illness. ... Columbus C Sergei Fedorov sat out Sunday's game with flue-like symptoms. ... The Avalanche recalled Jones from Lake Erie of the AHL on Saturday. ... The Avalanche, who have been hit hard with injuries, had six rookies in their lineup Sunday. ... The Blue Jackets are 3-3-2 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.