MONTREAL -- The Montreal Alouettes quarterback carousel has taken a promising turn with 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith. Jose Martinez . The former Ohio State star who only joined the Alouettes in August threw three touchdown passes in his first CFL start as Montreal downed the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 36-5 to tighten the race for playoff positions on Sunday afternoon. "Its been cool," Smith said of his quick adaptation to 12-man football. "My teammates have helped me out tremendously. "The adaptation is definitely still going on. Im trying day in and day out to get things down pat. Its been fun." The team announced this week that CFL all-time passing leader Anthony Calvillo, who has been out since August with a concussion, will not return this season. That made finding a starter to finish out the campaign and take Montreal into the playoffs has been a priority. Tanner Marsh had a good stretch but then faltered, as did Josh Neiswander. Now it is Smiths turn, and he passed the first test by completing 17 of 35 passes for 247 yards, three TDs and no interceptions. "He did a great job," said coach Jim Popp. "I dont know if he was nervous. "We didnt run everything right. Its great to be able to take what we did today and improve on it. We know theres a lot of upside to what were doing. We were moving the ball and scoring and we got over that 30-point mark like we said we needed to do." S.J. Green, with two, and Arland Bruce were on the receiving end of TD throws, while Tyrell Sutton ran one in. Sean Whyte had two field goals as Montreal won for the third time in four games. The third-place Alouettes (7-9) are hoping to overtake Hamilton (8-8) for second place in the East Division and the right to play host to a playoff game. The teams meet again on Saturday in Guelph, Ont., with the winner taking the season series between the two clubs. The Montreal defence held CFL offensive player of the week C.J. Gable to no yards on three carries and only 39 yards on six catches. It also limited Henry Burris to 106 passing yards before he was replaced by Dan LeFevour late in the third quarter. Coach Kent Austin didnt know what to make of a team that was coming off winning its season series with first-place Toronto, who they can still catch for first place. They were anaemic on attack, and ruined a handful of positive plays with penalties. "Just generally speaking, for whatever reason, we werent ready to play and they were," said Austin. "They brought the game to us. "They were more physical than us. They just whipped us in all three areas of the game. We werent disciplined. We had too many penalties. Ive got to figure out why we werent ready to play like we have been the last couple of weeks. Ive got to get to the bottom of it. Ive got to get my team better prepared." The Ticats only scoring came from a Luca Congi field goal and a safety. "We executed our defence," said Montreal linebacker Shea Emry. "Weve had lots of games where we put that many points up and we let teams slip back in. "There were times we almost did that, but then we didnt let them capitalize on those penalties or plays." Smith has seen mostly spot duty since he signed, but after Neiswander struggled in a loss to Winnipeg last week, Popp decided to give the former Baltimore Raven and San Francisco 49er a start. Smith, the fourth Alouette quarterback to start a game this season, didnt disappoint as he threw for 207 yards and three TDs in the first half as Montreal opened a 31-3 lead. In the opening quarter, he hit Green for TDs of 64 and two yards. With his 11th and 12th of the season, Green reached a career high in TD catches in a season and passed the 1,000-yard mark for a third straight year. After Congis 26-yard field goal to open the second quarter, Sutton scored on a 19-yard run off tackle at 5:46. Whyte added a 32-yard boot after a 40-yard punt return by Bo Bowling at 12:21 and Smith hit Bruce with a sideline pass for a 26-yard score just ahead of halftime. Montreal slowed play down after the intermission, adding a field goal, while each team conceded a safety. Smith admitted he was a nervous at the start. His first two possessions were two-and-outs. But then he hit Bowling with a 12-yard pass and on the next play found Green wide open for a TD. He also showed he could use his feet, both to buy time for a pass while scrambling or to gain 16 yards on three rushes. "To start off, I was anxious," he said. "Some of my throws were not normal throws. The first completion to Bo Bowling was huge. Sometimes you just need something like that to get you going." Notes: Bowling returned after missing the opening 15 games with an ankle injury. . . The result tied the season series between the teams at one win each, as the Ticats beat Montreal 28-26 in Moncton, N.B. on Sept. 21. . . The Ticats wasted a chance to clinch a home playoff date. . . Burris rushed for one yard, leaving him five short of 5,000 for his career. Randy Arozarena . Klein went undrafted in the NFL last year following his senior season with the Wildcats. He was invited to the Houston Texans rookie camp, but was not offered a contract. Genesis Cabrera . And thats about it. After the Salukis 73-65 loss at Murray State on Tuesday night, Hinson called his players "uncoachable," "a bunch of mamas boys" and compared the disciplining of his young team to housebreaking a puppy.(SportsNetwork.com) - The sliding St. Louis Blues will try to earn some payback for a recent loss when they host the Colorado Avalanche in Mondays Central Division battle at Scottrade Center. The Blues are in the midst of their longest losing streak of the season and the most lopsided defeat of the 0-3-1 stretch came Tuesday in Colorado, as the Avalanche pounded St. Louis by a 5-0 score. The drought has dropped St. Louis into a tie with Winnipeg for the third and final playoff spot in the Central. The Blues currently hold the tiebreaker with the Jets, who are hosting Minnesota tonight. Jarome Iginla, Ryan OReilly and Alex Tanguay each posted a goal and an assist on Tuesday for the Avalanche, while Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for the shutout victory, which was only Colorados second win in the past eight meetings with St. Louis. Tuesdays loss came in the finale of a three-game road trip that saw the Blues earn just one out of a possible six points. A return to the Gateway City didnt help end the slide on Saturday, when Dallas posted a 4-3 regulation win over the Blues. St. Louis fell to 12-4-1 as the home team this season and has won six of its last seven home encounters against the Avs. The Blues were tied 2-2 with Dallas after one period, but defensemen Trevor Daley and Jason Demers scored power-play goals in the second period to put the Stars up for good. Dallas went 2-for-5 on the power play, while St. Louis converted one of four chances with the man advantage. Vladimir Tarasenko netted his 21st goal of the season for the Blues, who are on their longest losing streak since an 0-6-0 slide to end the 2013-14 regular season. David Backes and Alex Pietrangelo also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 20-of-24 shots. Vada Pinson. Quite frankly, were not getting the job done. And thats everybody, said St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock. While injured No. 1 goaltender Brian Elliott is nearing a return to the crease, Martin Brodeur will get the start tonight. Brodeur is 17-8-1 with a lifetime 2.24 GAA versus Colorado. Elliott, who has been sidelined since Nov. 25 with a lower-body injury, was back at practice on Sunday and could return to game action as early as Tuesday, when the Blues begin a four-game road trip in Nashville. The Avalanche posted a season-high winning streak with Tuesdays win over the Blues, but the streak was halted at three in Saturdays 5-2 home loss to Chicago. Patrick Kane tallied two goals and an assist as to lead the way for the Blackhawks, who overcame an early 2-1 deficit with four unanswered goals. Colorado allowed Chicago to score twice on four power-play opportunities, while failing to score on three chances of its own. Their power play was the difference in the game, Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy said. We had our chances to get back in that game, but we didnt manage the puck well. Nathan MacKinnon and Erik Johnson each lit the lamp for the Avs, while Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 32 shots for the Avalanche. Varlamov expects to start tonight. He is 6-4-2 with a 1.75 GAA and three shutouts in his career against St. Louis. Colorado, which will begin a three-game homestand Wednesday against Philadelphia, is 6-6-5 as the guest this season. The Avs have won two straight on the road and own a 2-0-1 record over their past three away tilts. ' ' '