Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Jose Theodore stopped 32 shots -- 22 in the third period -- as the Avalanche beat the Lightning, 3-0, at St. Pete Times Forum.

Theodore earned his first shutout of the season, and 24th of his career, as Colorado made its first trip to Tampa Bay since a 5-4 overtime win on January 19, 2004. Theodore had gone 109 games without recording a shutout, with his last coming on February 28, 2004.

"Every time you enter a game, you always think about a shutout," said Theodore. "You want the win, but it's always a bonus."

Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, while Jeff Finger and Milan Hejduk also scored for the Avs, who have won three straight and four of six overall. Andrew Brunette added two assists.

Karri Ramo surrendered all three goals on 24 shots for the Lightning, who have dropped four of six and 12 of their last 15 games overall. They have lost five straight and eight of nine at home after starting the season 11-3-1 on their own ice.

The game remained scoreless through the first period, despite the teams combining for 16 shots on goal. The early stages were mired by fisticuffs, as Cody McLeod squared off with Kyle Wanvig, before Ian LaPerriere and Shane O'Brien went toe-to-toe just 24 seconds later.

The Avs broke the deadlock 5:30 into the second, but needed a power play to get on the board. The goal came as Finger took a feed right-to-left from John-Michael Liles and rifled the puck high over the glove of Ramo.

Stastny made it 2-0 with 3:33 remaining in the stanza, and with the club once again skating on the man-advantage. The tally came on a rebound, and marked just the fifth time this season the Avs scored more than one power-play goal in a game.

"Western Conference teams have really good power-play units and we knew that coming in," said Ramo. "They were better than us tonight."

Theodore put the squad on his back in the third, smothering every shot Tampa fired at him, including a point-blank attempt by Martin St. Louis around the six-minute mark.

"We were up by two goals and we knew they were going to come at us hard in the third, but I've just got to make the saves," Theodore added.

Hejduk added an insurance tally with 1:34 remaining in the contest, finding the back of an empty net with a long wrister.