DENVER -- The Detroit Red Wings’ ridiculous rash of injuries has contributed greatly to their struggles. But coach Mike Babcock acknowledges that they still should have a better record.

Now, they are as healthy and as deep as they have been all season. And after they defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Monday at the Pepsi Center, in the first game following the Olympic break, Babcock issued a challenge to his players.

“We got to make a decision that we want to get in (to the playoffs),’’ Babcock said. “We got enough bodies now. It’s very evident, we should be a good hockey club.

“You can’t win one, lose one. You can’t play the first (period) like we did (Monday) and then play the second like we did. You got to keep playing all the time. We have the ability, now we got to dig in and find the will and the determination to get it done.’’

The Red Wings dominated the first period and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, only to squander it in the second period. But Nicklas Lidstrom scored a power-play goal at 10:57 of the third period to snap the tie and lift his team into eighth place in the Western Conference.

Detroit got a dominant performance from its top line, as Tomas Holmstrom had a goal and two assists, Johan Franzen scored a goal and Pavel Datsyuk picked up a pair of assists.

Lidstrom said they played with desperation in the third period.

“We owned the first period and they took over the second,’’ Lidstrom said. “There’s 20 minutes to fight for two points and we played real well without the puck. We’re hanging in there, waiting for our chances, and the power play really responded.’’

He said of his goal: “Pav and Homer had a give-and-go on the right side. When Pav got it back, two guys laid down in front of him so he couldn’t shoot. I just followed behind him and he made a great drop pass for pretty much an empty net for me.’’

Jimmy Howard needed to make only 22 saves as the Red Wings were staunch defensively.

“We did a great job deflecting them out for the most part,’’ Howard said. “It was a great team effort. We clogged up the neutral zone, we got back and broke plays up. We skated well.’’

Holmstrom opened the scoring with his 16th goal at 6:06 of the first period on pass from Datsyuk. Franzen scored on the power play at 12:40 by taking the puck to the net.

The Avalanche tied the game on second-period goals from T.J. Galiardi (8:29 on a rebound from the crease) and Chris Stewart (11:14 on shot through Howard’s five-hole). They appeared to gain a burst of momentum after an apparent power-play goal by Franzen at 6:28 was waved off by referee Kerry Fraser, who ruled that Holmstrom made incidental contact with goalie Craig Anderson.

“Homer was in the paint and Kerry Fraser said he didn’t allow the goalie to play,’’ Babcock said. “You got to be outside the paint.’’

In the end, it was irrelevant. The Red Wings welcomed back defenseman Andreas Lilja, who hadn’t played in 12 months due to a concussion, and got a boost from Brian Rafalski, who arrived earlier in the day from Vancouver after playing for the U.S. in the Olympic gold-medal game. They launched a successful post-break playoff push.

Babcock, operating on two hours sleep after coaching Canada to the gold medal, stressed a sense of urgency, saying, “They pay me to have this team in the playoffs.

“We’re a good team. We should have more points than we do,’’ Babcock said. “That was the best lineup we dressed all year. Now we got a chance. This group has got to decide that we’re getting on a run, and then wouldn’t you just love to draw us in the first round?’’