DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov put recent struggles behind him, and the Colorado Avalanches sputtering offense did the same -- at least for one night.Varlamov had 32 saves, Patrick Wiercioch and Rene Bourque scored 22 seconds apart and the Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Tuesday night.Gabriel Landeskog and Blake Comeau also scored for Colorado, and Wiercioch added an assist for an offense that scored more than three goals for the first time in 12 games.Weve been waiting for this (for) pretty long, Varlamov said of the four goals. Its always nice to see them.Varlamov had been a victim of Colorados lack of offense when he went through a personal five-game losing streak. He struggled, too, posting a 3.07 goals-against average during that stretch, though he bounced back in a losing effort against Boston on Sunday.He followed that 44-save performance with another strong one against the Kings.The team played well in front of me, he said. When the guys score lots of goals it gives you more confidence.Dustin Brown scored for Los Angeles and Peter Budaj stopped 26 shots. It was the Kings fourth straight loss after opening their five-game trip with a win in Toronto.We hit some posts, but we didnt bear down on the chances we had, Drew Doughty said. We have to make our chances count.The Avalanche had not scored a regulation goal for more than five periods before getting two quick ones at the start of the second.Wiercioch broke through when he stuffed the puck between Budajs skate and the post at 1:10 for his second goal of the season.I was skating behind the net and saw him cheating off the post, so I tried it, Wiercioch said. It doesnt work a lot in practice. Maybe he was reading pass because we had a guy coming down in the slot. I was able to get my stick around and jam it off his pad.Bourque then put his stick on Mikko Rantanens shot from the blue line and redirected it past Budaj at 1:32. It was his fifth of the season and third in three games.The Kings had several chances to get back into it before Brown scored. With Tyson Barrie off for hooking, Nic Dowd backhanded the puck to the front of the net and Brown knocked it in to make it 2-1 with 31 seconds left in the period. It was his third of the season and just the second power-play goal in the last 33 chances for the Kings.The Avalanche made it a two-goal game at 11:32 of the third when Comeau beat Budaj with a shot from between the circles. The Kings challenged play, claiming Jarome Iginla interfered with Budaj, but the goal was upheld upon review.We challenged it because the goalies in the blue paint and he gets bumped a little, Kings coach Darryl Sutter said.Landeskog scored an empty-net goal at 18:23 to make it 4-1.Game notes Avalanche C Nathan MacKinnon had a career-high 10 shots on goal. ... Kings C Anze Kopitar missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury but is expected to skate Wednesday when the team returns to L.A. ... Avalanche C Matt Duchene will make the three-game road trip with the hope of playing as early as Thursday. He was on the ice for Tuesdays morning skate and could be a full participant at Wednesdays practice. He has also missed two straight games.UP NEXT:Kings: Host Edmonton on Thursday to start a stretch of four of the next five at Staples Center.Avalanche: Begin their three-game road trip in Dallas on Thursday night. Jarrad Davis Lions Jersey . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. T.J. Hockenson Lions Jersey .C. Lions has come to an end. Banks told TSN on Jan 2 that he had no interest in playing out the option year of his contract with the Lions in 2014, and he again made that clear in a conversation with Lions GM Wally Buono last week. http://www.authenticnfllionslockroom.com/Youth-Barry-Sanders-Elite-Jersey/ . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. Barry Sanders Youth Jersey .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. Barry Sanders Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. CLEVELAND -- There are rebuilding projects and then there are the Cleveland Browns, a floundering franchise currently on the wrong end of the NFLs food chain.Fixing the Browns is a daunting task, some might argue an impossible one. But Hue Jackson, who has gotten a second head-coaching gig after a five-year wait, believes hes just the man for the job.Ive bit off the apple, he said.Yeah, and its pretty rotten.The Browns havent been relevant in years. With just two winning seasons and one playoff appearance since 1999, theyve spent more time shuffling in front offices, coaches and starting quarterbacks -- theyre on No. 25 in 17 seasons -- than anything else and there is little reason to think the 2016 season will be any different.Dont tell that to Jackson, who went 8-8 with Oakland in 2011 and is convinced better days are ahead for the brown and orange.Jackson oozes optimism, even if he knows deep down that Clevelands return to respectability wont take place without hard work, patience and some luck. Hes accepted that Clevelands new front office of analytical thinkers must gut the framework of the Browns roster before any true development can occur.Jackson must now balance the progress he sees in young players with results on the scoreboard.Its hard, said the 50-year-old Jackson, who spent the past two seasons as Cincinnatis offensive coordinator. Its really hard and thats one thing that is new for me. Theres a certain result that you are expecting and youve seen and you want to accomplish all the time. But Ive learned that theres a process and Im in the process, the beginning stages of it, but I also know myself well enough to know that were going to win.When thats going to be, I dont know the answer to that, but I know were going to win.Clevelands success this season will hinge on whether quarterback Robert Griffin III can revive his career with the Browns following a freefall with Washington. With Jacksons urging after he worked out the 26-year-old QB, the Browns signed RG3 to a two-year, $15 million contract -- a low-risk, high-reward investment that could accelerate the Browns reconstruction or force the team to use a high draft pick next year on a quarterback.From his days with the Raiders, Jackson learned he cant do it alone. It takes a village to raise a team, and that no matter how hard he work, how he stays in his office pouring over a game plan or how many timess he shows a rookie wide receiver how to run the proper route, things arent going to go according to plan.ddddddddddddYouve got to have the wherewithal to deal with that, said Jackson, the Browns fifth coach since 2010. Some people can and some people cant. I understand that youre not going to win them all and youre not going to lose them all, but somewhere in the middle. But hopefully you win more than you lose.As they embark on whats expected to another rough season, here are five more things to watch with the Browns:DIFFERENT GRIFFIN: He showed flashes of his former speedy self in training camp, but Griffin is a far cry from the player whose scintillating skills electrified the league as a rookie in 2012. He can still throw the deep ball, but the Browns need Griffin to be accurate on those intermediate throws and pick up first downs when flushed from the pocket.GORDON WAITS: Perhaps the most perplexing player in football, wide receiver Josh Gordon will sit out the first four games serving his latest drug suspension. The former Pro Bowler has said all the right things about staying clean to this point, and now the Browns have to trust hell be true to his word until hes eligible.Gordon has been suspended for 27 of Clevelands last 32 games.MONEYBALL: The recent release of linebacker Paul Kruger (30) and trade of three-time Pro Bowl punter Andy Lee (31) crystallized the front offices intent to make the Browns younger while acquiring assets. Cleveland is stockpiling draft picks -- the team currently has two first- and second-round picks in 2017 -- to revamp its roster.YOUNG AND WRECKLESS: Rookie defensive linemen Emmanuel Ogbah and Carl Nassib will have prominent roles this season under coordinator Ray Horton, who loves to blitz and blitz some more. Nassib, who led the nation with 15 1/2 sacks last season at Penn State, had an impressive preseason.NO FAVORS: Clevelands schedule is brutal with five road games in the first seven weeks and no bye until Dec. 4. Making matters worse, one of those two home games is Tom Bradys return from his four-game Deflategate suspension and the Patriots QB just may take out some pent-up frustrations against Commissioner Roger Goodell against the Browns.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '