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Wojtek Wolski scored in the third period to give the Western Conference-leading Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

In a Northwest Division showdown, the Avalanche scored three unanswered goals to climb out of an early deficit and hand Calgary its first divisional defeat of the season.

"It would have been easy for our guys to say, 'We'll get 'em next time,'" Avs coach Joe Sacco said, his team off to the best start since the franchise moved to Denver from Quebec in 1995. "But that's not the way we are. We're resilient."

Two goals down with just over a minute played, Colorado's David Koci and David Jones hit back to tie the score at 2-2 before the end of the first period, and Wolski converted a wrister for the game-winner at 5:31 in the third.

It was Wolski's team-leading eighth goal of the season.

The Avalanche pulled off the victory despite being outshot by 32-14. Goaltender Craig Anderson made 30 saves to pick up his league-leading 10th win of the season and Colorado (10-1-2) opened up a seven-point advantage over the Flames (7-3-1) in the Northwest.

Calgary came out strong with goals from Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen giving them the early 2-0 lead.

"We had a good start to the game then we backed off and allowed them to carry the play," said Calgary coach Brent Sutter. "We recovered the last two periods, but we didn't really do enough to score here tonight. Give them credit."

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Flames.

Colorado finished last in the Western Conference a year ago but has been revitalised under first-year coach Sacco.

Reuters