DENVER -- The Detroit Red Wings came in looking for redemption, and they left with relief.

Pavel Datsyuk scored first and again in overtime for a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at Pepsi Center, poking the puck into the net with 15.4 seconds remaining to earn the Wings a crucial two points in the Western Conference standings.

Just 10 games, half of them on the road, remain for the Wings to solidify a playoff spot.

Frustrated over a sloppy second period the Thursday night at Phoenix that resulted in a loss, coach Mike Babcock overhauled his defense, inserting three players who had sat that night, stuck with Jimmy Howard in net because "Howie gives us the best chance," to win, Babcock said.

Babcock said he'd have made changes up front if he had any healthy bodies available; in lieu of that, he changed his lines, reuniting Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, and using Johan Franzen to center the second line.

It was the now-reliable power play that came through first for the Wings, with Zetterberg shrugging off two defenders along the boards to chip a pass out to Franzen. Franzen slipped the puck back into the slot for Datsyuk, who notched his 12th goal of the season.

Next came a 13-second span that saw the Wings lose their lead and regain it. Mark Olver scored on a breakaway at 11:36, but before the Avs could grab any momentum, Gustav Nyquist stole the puck off Matt Duchene, waited for Jean-Sebastien Giguere to slide to his left and then sneaked the puck in behind him.

That meant the Wings took a one-goal lead into the second period. They did that at Phoenix, too. The different Friday night was what happened during that period: Instead of spending 20 minutes as spectators, the Wings continued to skate and stick to their system. They came close to building on their lead, in fact, during a late power play, with Valtteri Filppula denied on a great chance from the low slot and Jakub Kindl clanking a shot off a goalpost.

Playing for the second time in 24 hours, against a team that had been off for two days, and playing at the mile-high altitude caught up with the Wings as the game wore on, and the Avs got the better chances early in the third period. P.A. Parenteau evened the score at 6:29 after Kyle Quincey got picked off, possibly unable to see the puck because of the cage he's wearing to protect his right cheekbone. The Avs owned the period from then on, forcing one great save after another from Howard, at one point outshooting Detroit, 12-1.

• Read more articles by HELENE ST. JAMES

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