DETROIT -- Jiri Hudler clenched his fists, gazed up at the Joe Louis Arena rafters and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The season has been a struggle for the diminutive Detroit Red Wings forward who returned to the NHL with high hopes following a one-year stint in Russia. But he finally scored his first goal Saturday night, and Happy Hudler was all smiles.

The Red Wings defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-1, winning their third in a row during a six-game homestand.

Many players had reason to smile.

Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist. Danny Cleary scored a goal for the fifth consecutive game and extended his points streak to seven games. Nicklas Lidstrom picked up an assist to stretch his points streak to 11 games.

But nobody needed to score more badly than Hudler, who used a little ingenuity and got a fortunate bounce to give his team a 2-0 lead 30 seconds into the second period.

Hudler came out of the penalty box and chased down a long pass from Lidstrom. He fumbled his first shot attempt, which Peter Budaj turned away. Hudler corralled the rebound and, from behind the net, banked in a shot off Budaj’s left skate.

It proved to be the game-winner.

Was it a relief?

“Big time,” Hudler said. “The first one is really important. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it sooner. It’s behind me right now. I got to keep going.”

He said of the pressure he was under: “You don’t feel it until you realize it’s 14 games into the season and you have zero goals. You got to stick with hard work and good things are going to happen.”

Injured teammate Kris Draper got an unofficial assist. Draper isn’t ready to return after having hernia surgery, but he skated during the pregame warmup and inspired Hudler.

“I talked to Drapes before the game, he gave me a lot of energy and told me I’m going to score tonight,” Hudler said. “He’s going to get a lot of credit for that.”

Hudler, who had slumped to the point where he was a healthy scratch for two games recently, has shown much more jump the last two games, after joining a line with Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen. Coach Mike Babcock on Friday openly questioned why Hudler can’t play with more consistency.

“We need Huds to be a good player, we think he’s a good player, we still think he can be a lot better,” Babcock said after the game. “As he gets used to playing over here again he’s going to get better and better. We expect more from him.”

Said Hudler: “You want to be on the ice and that’s not going to happen if you don’t play the way he likes.”

Another line that’s looked good the last two games features Cleary and Bertuzzi (along with Mike Modano), who teamed up to give Detroit a 3-0 lead at 5:52 of the second period. Cleary took a pass from Bertuzzi off the rush and fired a backhand shot past Budaj.

Cleary has six goals and 10 points in his past seven games. Lidstrom has 14 points in his past 11 games (two goals, 12 assists).

Colorado cut Detroit’s lead to 3-1 when John-Michael Liles scored during a five-on-three power play at 5:28 of the third period. The Avalanche applied some pressure, but got no closer.

Jimmy Howard made 21 saves to raise his record to 9-1-1.

Bertuzzi opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 12:58 of the first period. He snapped a wrist shot from the faceoff circle into the top corner of the net, over Budaj’s left shoulder.

“It’s probably one of my better ones,” Bertuzzi said. “I think it was more set up from the way Mule (Franzen) backed everyone up and gave me enough room to skate in. We got so many good guys out there, so it’s tough to get power-play time. When you’re out there you want to make sure you make the most of it.”

Said Babcock: “Bert normally doesn’t shoot that puck. To fire it over his shoulder, it was a great shot to see.”

So was Hudler’s goal for the Red Wings. And it’s not the first time Draper has had success motivating him.

“A couple of years ago I was a little bit down at the beginning of the season, couldn’t get one in,” Hudler said. “I think we were in Phoenix. He gave me this pep-up speech, and it went in back then, so I believed in it.”