Recap: Detroit vs. Colorado

Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - The Detroit Red Wings rebounded from a lopsided loss by holding on for a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Joe Louis Arena.

Justin Abdelkader, Daniel Cleary and Damien Brunner each had a goal for Detroit, which was coming off Sunday's 7-1 home setback to Chicago.

"We needed this after what happened yesterday," said Detroit head coach Mike Babcock. "We didn't feel very good after that and the guys really responded well tonight."

Pulled against the Blackhawks, Jimmy Howard finished with 22 saves Monday against a Colorado team struggling mightily on the road this season.

The Avalanche have dropped 12 straight away from Pepsi Center.

Brunner snapped a 15-game goal drought to give Detroit a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, but the Avalanche got third-period goals from Jamie McGinn -- on a power play - and Matt Duchene to make things interesting down the stretch.

Duchene's tally came with 1:18 to play and goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere on the bench for an extra skater. Giguere had replaced starter Semyon Varlamov after Brunner scored.

Defenseman Brendan Smith tried to flip the puck out of the Detroit zone, but Duchene knocked it down and beat Howard with a backhander.

The Avalanche couldn't produce an equalizer with Giguere again stationed on the bench.

"It's really brutal and unacceptable," said Duchene about the road woes. "I could keep throwing out adjectives here to describe it, but at the end of the day it's just not good enough."

Detroit got on the board when Abdelkader batted a rebound out of the air with 4:03 remaining in the first period. Cleary potted a power-play goal 6:28 into the middle frame to make it 2-0.