Ducks rally past Colorado for 4-3 win in OT

The Colorado Avalanche this one under control for all of 40 minutes.

But the Ducks rallied with two third period goals on home ice and Ondrej Kase finished the rally with an overtime goal to give the Ducks a 4-4 win.

The Avs held a 3-1 lead going to the third period on two goals from Tyson Jost and a single marker form Alexander Kerfoot.

“We found a way to tie the hockey game and Kase makes a big play in overtime to get us the extra point,” Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. “These are big points. The next one is going to be bigger.”

Andrew Cogliano, Adam Henrique and Ryan Kesler scored for the Ducks in regulation; Anaheim improved to 3-1-1 in their last five games and they are one point up on the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.

“That’s the way we’re built,” Kesler said. “They’re more of a skilled team over there. We want to play to our strengths, and we did tonight. You can see they were stuck to the outside all night.”

The loser’s point gave the Avs the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t feel confident this time of year,” the Avs’ Gabriel Landeskog said. “We’re in the race for a reason, and now we just have to show up.”

John Gibson got the start for the Ducks and made 10 saves in the opening frame; he did not come out for the second period and was relieved by Ryan Miller who made 19 saves for the win.

“That’s a veteran player there,” Carlyle said of Miller. “He wasn’t rattled by the situation.”

The Ducks improved to 41-25-13.

“The pressure (our team) puts on itself as individuals falls on the team. This group is experienced, playoff experienced, pressure experienced. It’s not all doom and gloom. They know how to play in those situations.” — Ducks coach Randy Carlyle on rallying for the win

[WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Ducks highlights]

Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves in taking the loss.

“The only time the standings matter is (next) Saturday (when the regular season ends for every NHL team except the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers). It’s disappointing we didn’t get two (points) because we played OK for a lot of that game,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said after the loss.