LOS ANGELES - Ryan Smyth and Jaroslav Hlinka scored 62 seconds apart early in the first period against Jason LaBarbera in the goalie's first game off the injured list, and the Colorado Avalanche went on to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Monday night for their third straight victory.

Colorado Avalanche's goalie Peter Budaj (31) of Slovak Republic deflects the shot from Los Angeles Kings' Anze Kopitar (11) of Slovenia during the second period of their NHL hockey game, Monday, Dec. 17, 2007 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

Peter Budaj helped send the Kings to their fourth straight loss, making 19 saves after stopping 61 of 63 shots in Colorado's home-and-home sweep of Nashville.

Paul Stastny also had a goal and defensemen Brett Clark had two assists, the first one coming on Smyth's power-play goal. The Avalanche entered the game with only five goals in 65 power plays on the road, the worst percentage in the league.

Dustin Brown scored for the Kings on a power play and Michal Handzus added a short-handed goal. LaBarbera made 36 saves after missing eight games because of a rib injury.

Trailing 3-0, the Kings got on the board just 36 seconds into the third period while Scott Hannan was off for hooking Anze Kopitar. Brown got his stick on Blake's one-timer from 40 feet out in the slot and redirected it between Budaj's legs.

Handzus sliced the deficit to 3-2 with 15:14 to play, beating Budaj with a 20-foot wrist shot from the right circle while teammate Michael Cammalleri was serving a tripping penalty. It was the first short-handed goal Colorado has given up this season, leaving Ottawa as the only team in the league that hasn't allowed one.

Ben Guite's empty-net goal wrapped it up with 1:07 remaining.

Smyth, who had two goals against the Kings in a 5-2 win on Dec. 1 at Staples Center, opened the scoring in the rematch during a power play at the 2:37 mark. He converted a rebound on his backhand from the edge of the crease for his 11th goal, while Brown was off for holding Clark.

Colorado made it 2-0 with Hlinka's fifth goal. He beat Lubomir Visnovsky to a lose puck above the right circle, tapped it between the defenseman's legs and went in alone on LaBarbera, who committed too early and flopped to the ice as the Avalanche center held onto the puck an extra second before flipping it over him.

At that point, Kings coach Marc Crawford burned the team's only timeout to settle his team down. But the Avalanche kept buzzing around the Los Angeles net, and Stastny was credited with his 15th goal at 14:12 of the first when Blake inadvertently tapped the puck across the goal line as it lay in the crease behind LaBarbera.

Notes:@ Joel Quenneville recorded his 413th regular-season victory as an NHL head coach, tying Jack Adams for 18th place all-time. ... Quenneville won the Jack Adams award as Coach of the Year in 1999-00 with St. Louis, and one more victory will make him the 12th winner of that award to accumulate more wins than the man the trophy was named after — including Crawford. ... The Smyth-Stastny-Milan Hejduk line has combined for 38 points over the last nine games. ... D John-Michael Liles had two assists for Colorado. Avalanche defensemen have recorded 34 points over the last 14 games. ... Colorado outshot the Kings 16-4 in the first period.