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Final Score: Colorado 4 - Anaheim 3

Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - Chris Stewart had a goal and two assists, as the Colorado Avalanche held on to defeat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3, at Honda Center.

Matt Duchene ended with a goal and one assist, while Paul Stastny added three helpers for the Avs, who rebounded from Monday's loss to Detroit. T.J. Galiardi also scored, while Craig Anderson made 31 saves.

Peter Mueller, who Colorado acquired from Phoenix earlier Wednesday in the trade that sent Wojtek Wolski to the Coyotes, lit the lamp in his Avalanche debut.

"Obviously things didn't work out with Phoenix, but I'm coming to a great team in Colorado," Mueller said. "I am very excited to be a part of it -- there is such great tradition here. To lead it off with a goal and a big 'W', it definitely doesn't get better than that."

Teemu Selanne and Jason Blake each had a goal and assist for the Ducks, who were playing in their first game since coming back from the Olympic break. Scott Niedermayer also scored, while Jonas Hiller made 21 stops in the loss.

Both teams were well represented at the Olympics, as Selanne, who helped Finland win bronze, became the all-time points leader in men's Olympic hockey during the tournament. Additionally, Niedermayer won a gold medal playing for Canada, Stastny helped the United States to a silver medal, and Hiller served as Switzerland's goaltender.

They were central figures down the stretch of Wednesday's game, in which the Avs scored four consecutive goals. Down by two shortly into the second period, Colorado got on the board on Stewart's power-play score. Stastny fed the puck from the right side of the crease to the left, and Stewart put it in net at 9:10 to make it a 2-1 contest.

Skating on the man advantage a little over six minutes later, the Avs evened the score on Mueller's goal.

Colorado's power play continued to click in the third period. A little more than eight minutes in, Duchene collected a rebound Hiller couldn't control and put it past the goaltender for a 3-2 Avs lead.

That score came at the 8:09 mark, and only 70 seconds later Galiardi put the Avs up by two. Hiller made a left-pad save on Stastny's shot from the left side. The puck bounced out to the crease, where Galiardi fired it home.

"We knew they had to do something in the second, but we let them back in the game," Hiller said. "We started having to take penalties because we were losing the puck. At the end, it was the specialty teams that were the difference tonight."

The Ducks went on an extended power play later in the period, thanks to a double-minor on Ruslan Salei, and cashed in on a redirection. Niedermayer, standing behind the goal line on the left side, sent the puck into the crease from the left side, and it bounced off the skate of Avs defenseman Scott Hannan before getting past Anderson with 3:05 to play.

However, Anderson and the Avalanche managed to hold on the rest of the way for victory.

Blake scored on the power play with 3:49 left in the opening period, and Selanne netted his 19th of the season 4:37 into the second to put the Ducks ahead 2-0.