DENVER — The Avalanche didn’t need an extra man, just the extra ice Thursday in their return from the All-Star break.

Colorado cancelled out two of its own power plays with penalties, but scored twice 4-on-4 on the way to a 3-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog kicked things off, tipping a Mikko Rantanen shot in 2:43 into the game. Devon Toews doubled the lead with the teams playing 4-on-4. Nazem Kadri came up the boards and threaded a pass directly to Toews at the side of the net. The Colorado defenseman directed the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy (44 saves).

“It was tape-to-tape, then tape-to-tape again at the back door,” coach Jared Bednar said. “We got our D involved there, which helps.

“Obviously that was a big goal for us.”

Early in the second period, another power play was quickly snuffed out by a Kadri penalty. Nichushkin went in on a 2-on-1 with Cale Makar and held onto the puck, firing in his jersey-matching 13th goal of the season.

Tampa Bay cut the lead to one twice, first on a quick-developing odd-man rush. The second came when Mikhail Sergachev found Brayden Point cherry-picking behind the Avalanche defense.

“You’d like to be able to correct those as they’re happening and cover for one another, but (that’s) a really good team,” Landeskog said.

The score held during the third period. Vasilevskiy was pulled for the extra attacker with about three minutes left. The Avalanche couldn’t get a clear look at the empty net, but kept most of the shots on Darcy Kuemper (36 saves) to the outside.

“Everybody on the ice did a good job of staying in position,” Landeskog said. “We were tired at the end, but at that point, it’s just – empty the tank.”

The last time the Avalanche fell in regulation at Ball Arena was Oct. 26.

Colorado took both regular-season games against the defending champions. The Avalanche won in a shootout in Tampa Bay on Oct. 23.

“They’re definitely kind of a measuring stick for the rest of the league with the success they’ve had over the last couple of years,” Kuemper said. “I think as a team, this is a game where we want to be at our best.

“I think both games were great efforts and showed what we’re capable of.”

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