Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Jose Theodore made 23 saves to record his third shutout of the season and 26th of his career, as the Colorado Avalanche blanked the Calgary Flames, 2-0, at Pepsi Center.

Jordan Leopold and Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche, who began a three- game homestand by snapping a four-game skid.

"Every game is so critical this time of year," Theodore said. "We had to play better than we did last game and we did that tonight."

Colorado center Peter Forsberg returned to the lineup after sitting out six of Colorado's last 10 games with a groin injury.

The Avalanche tied idle Vancouver for the seventh spot in the Western Conference with 86 points.

Miikka Kiprusoff allowed two goals on 23 shots before he was lifted for Curtis Joseph, who finished with two saves for Calgary.

"He played well, we did not get our rebounds and screens," Calgary's Jarome Iginla said of Theodore. "Their defense did a great job cleaning out the net."

Calgary remains sixth in the West with 88 points, one point behind Minnesota -- which lost to Edmonton, 5-3, on Monday -- for first place in the Northwest Division.

Colorado's 29th-ranked power play broke a scoreless game at the 6:36 mark of the second period. Wojtek Wolski tried to thread a pass to Forsberg cutting through the slot, but the puck deflected off the future Hall-of-Famer's skate. Leopold followed up the play, pounced on the loose puck and buried it behind Kiprusoff.

Hejduk's 24th goal of the season provided the Avalanche with some much-needed insurance. Calgary's Dion Phaneuf turned the puck over in the corner and Ryan Smyth kicked the puck out to Paul Stastny at the left side of the goal. Stastny then poked it across the crease to Hejduk, who fired the disc past Kiprusoff with 7:41 remaining in the third.

With 56 seconds left in regulation, Colorado defenseman Kurt Sauer was called for hooking. Calgary pulled Joseph to create a 6-on-4 advantage, but failed to connect on the power play.