It took four games and a shootout, but the Avalanche finally goal a goal from one of the offense-minded forwards they added in the offseason.

It was produced by center Nazem Kadri, who scored in the first round Sunday in the Avalanche’s 3-2 win against Minnesota at the Pepsi Center. Gabriel Landeskog connected in the third round to secure their first win in four preseason games.

“Preseason, no one’s fretting too much about it, but you want to feel good about yourself, you want to feel good about your team,… Kadri said. “One way to do that is win.…

As for the goal: “It’s been a while through the summer (where) you almost forget that feeling, so just being able to have one hit the back of the net, it’s a good confidence booster.”

Shootout goals don’t actually count, so fourth-line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has the lone goal among the newcomers, which he scored Thursday in a 2-1 loss to Dallas. With 29 goals in 385 NHL games, Bellemare’s main responsibilities will be to play solid defense, win face-offs and kill penalties.

Kadri, who was acquired July 1 from Toronto in the Tyson Barrie trade, will be counted on in the regular season to produce as the second-line center and take some heat off Nathan MacKinnon and Co.

He played 22:45 Sunday while centering Andre Burakovsky and Sheldon Dries, and getting plenty of power-play time. He’s played in two games and has eight shots, has won 25 of 41 face-offs (61 percent) and taken two minor penalties.

“Structure, playing together, creating some chemistry, that’s really what guys are trying to do, and then try to get off to the best start in the regular season as possible,… Kadri said.

The Avalanche didn’t score in the three-on-three overtime, which included a four-on-three power play, but they outshot the Wild 4-2 and had the puck for most of the period. That was a major problem last season when Colorado went 3-12 in three-on-three overtimes.

Kadri won a crucial opening face-off in overtime and won 15 of 22 (68 percent) for the game.

“Three-on-three, it’s all about possession,… he said. “You lose that face-off, you might never get the puck back. Puck possession’s crucial. We feel like we dominated three-on-three in terms of possession and chances, and we drew a penalty, had lots of good looks there. Games are going to come down the stretch, whether it’s a shootout or three-on-three, points are on the line and you need those points.…

Coach Jared Bednar has been impressed with Kadri’s play in games as well as practice sessions.

“He’s been excellent,… Bednar said. “A hard-working guy, intelligent hockey player, he’s on pucks, positionally he’s excellent. He’s always around the puck, he’s strong on the puck, hangs onto pucks, makes plays. What I like about him is when he gets the puck in a scoring area there’s no doubt where it’s going, it’s going to the net.

“He’s a shooter, he likes to score goals. He gets his nose dirty around the paint. He’s an experienced guy. All the things we’ve talked about — the face-offs, power play, five-on-five — I really liked what I’ve seen out of him, he’s going to help us a lot.…

The Avalanche have two preseason games left, Wednesday in Vegas and Saturday in Dallas, followed by four days to prepare for the Oct. 3 season opener against Calgary.

“I’m still trying to learn, just asking a lot of questions, looking at films for structure and things like that,… Kadri said. “Once you do that a few times it becomes second nature, but for now you’re still in the process of trying to figure it out.Things are definitely heading in the right direction.

Nine players were assigned to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL: Left wing Ty Lewis; right wings Erik Condra and Nick Henry; defensemen Mark Alt, Kevin Davis, Anton Lindholm, Nicolas Meloche and Peter Tischke; and goalie Adam Werner.

Alt and Lindholm need to pass through waivers.

Right wing Colin Campbell was released from Professional Tryout (PTO) and invited to the Eagles training camp.