DENVER -- A late goal nearly cost the Colorado Avalanche an important win, but a perfect shootout gave them two valuable points heading into their showcase game.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard made 30 saves through regulation and overtime and stopped both shots he faced in the shootout, and the Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 Wednesday night.

Centers Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene scored shootout goals for Colorado, which helped its bid for one of the two playoff wild cards in the Western Conference.

The Avalanche (32-27-4) head into their Stadium Series game against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night with momentum. A loss would have put a damper on Friday's alumni contest, but they rallied after San Jose right winger Joel Ward sent the game to overtime with 1:31 left in the third period.

"It was big, no doubt," left winger Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado's captain, said of the victory. "Every win's going to be huge at this point. We want to make sure we go into this weekend's festivities and the outdoor game with a win in the back pocket and make sure we go out and enjoy this weekend."

Landeskog had a goal and an assist, and right winger Jarome Iginla and center Shawn Matthias also scored for the Avalanche, who moved within one point of the Nashville Predators for the first wild card and four points ahead of the Minnesota Wild.

Center Nick Spaling and defenseman Brent Burns scored for the Sharks (32-21-6). Goaltender Martin Jones had 38 saves for the Sharks, who ended a tough stretch in which they played nine of 11 games on the road.

"It's good to be going home," Ward said. "This whole month has been a complete write-off. I don't know what my house looks like, to be honest with you."

San Jose finished its five-game trip 3-1-1 and had a chance for more but couldn't convert on its opportunities after overtime. MacKinnon scored on a backhand to start the shootout, and Duchene ended it with a snap shot.

Pickard stopped right winger Joonas Donskoi on the Sharks' first shootout attempt and got a piece of center Joe Pavelski's shot that went over the net.

"You're facing the best shooters in the world here, and you don't want to bite on that first move because they'll make you look pretty silly," said Pickard, who got his first shootout win of the season in front of his parents. "I did that for the most part. I got a bit lucky on the second one, but I tried to get as much body behind it."

The Avalanche trailed 2-1 after Burns' centering pass to the front of the net went off the skate of Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson 1:50 into the third. It was Burns' 20th of the season.

Iginla's slap-shot, power-play goal at 5:35 of the third tied it. It was his 18th of the season and 607th of his career, one behind Dino Ciccarelli for 17th all time.

Colorado went ahead when Landeskog tapped in defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk's rebound at 11:45 of the third. It was his 15th of the season.

With Jones off for an extra skater, Ward tied it at 3.

"They were buzzing at the end, but those things happen when you pull the goalie," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said.

It was quite a debut for three players who were teammates in Toronto less than a week ago. Spaling and defenseman Roman Polak came to San Jose from Toronto a day after the Maple Leafs dealt Matthias to Colorado. The trio, who had a combined eight goals for Toronto this season, got two in the first 13:02 of Wednesday's game.

Spaling's first shot in a San Jose uniform gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead just 2:10 into the game. Not to be outdone, Matthias tied it with a backhander 11 minutes later for his seventh of the season.

"It was nice to be able to get on the board early," said Spaling, who arrived in Colorado with Polak after midnight Wednesday. "It was a tough game. I think it was back and forth. It would have been nice to get two points, but I think we battled to get the one."

NOTES: Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon missed Tuesday's practice due to illness but was able to play Wednesday. ... Sharks C Tommy Wingels missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury. ... San Jose D Matt Tennyson was out due to an upper-body injury. St. Louis RW Ryan Reaves, who hurt Tennyson on Monday, received a three-game suspension from the NHL on Wednesday.