Sometimes it really is better to be lucky than good, though Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog really was good in the clutch Tuesday night in Columbus.
A willingness to grind it out -- along with some very good fortune -- enabled the Avalanche to turn a 2-0 third-period deficit into a 3-2 overtime win against the Blue Jackets.
Three -- count 'em, three -- pucks launched by the Avalanche caromed into the Blue Jackets net after the team sort of sleepwalked through 2 1-2 periods to pull out its fourth consecutive win, two of them coming in overtime and one in a shootout.
"We were the best shooters in the game tonight versus our own guy," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards told reporters. "To have three pucks go in off you is deflating. It takes away a lot of the good things we did in the game."
The Avalanche (48-21-6) has taken a three-point lead (102-99) over the Chicago Blackhawks (42-19-15) in the race for second place in the Central Division and home-ice advantage in a probable first-round playoff series. The Avalanche has seven games left, the Blackhawks six.
"We were resilient and came back in the third even harder," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "We bounced back and showed a lot of character. We changed our culture and we never give up. We never give up, we keep working hard and we believe in ourselves. It's one of the reasons why we came back in this game."
Down 2-0 midway through the third period, the Avalanche sliced the deficit in half with 10:14 left when Brad Malone, as he was being checked in the corner, slid the puck in front and it bounced off Columbus' Nick Foligno into the net.
Landeskog tied matters with 4:47 to go when he skated to the front of the net and tipped Nathan MacKinnon's pass off Blue Jackets defenseman Dalton Prout's skate behind goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Landeskog drew a holding penalty from Artem Anisimov with 2:21 to go in overtime and was credited with the winner with 32.2 seconds remaining. He tried to send the puck to MacKinnon on the left side for what might have been a shot into a half-open net, but it caromed in off Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson.
The game was the first for the Avalanche since leading scorer Matt Duchene sustained a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee on Saturday. He's expected to miss about four weeks.
"We talked about not finding excuses and not using any injuries as an excuse, and we're not," Landeskog said. "It's an opportunity for a lot of guys to step up, and a lot of guys did."
The Avalanche defense pair of Nate Guenin and Barrie had a tough time when the Blue Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the second period. Guenin's turnover behind the net led to a goal by Cam Atkinson, who was between the circles when he ripped Brandon Dubinsky's pass behind goalie Semyon Varlamov.
Columbus made it 2-0 on a goal by Blake Comeau after a puck skipped past Barrie and then bounced off Guenin to create a 2-on-1 rush deep in the Colorado end.
The win improved the Avalanche's record in overtime to 9-3 (Colorado is 4-3 in shootouts) and to 7-17-2 in games it has trailed after two periods.
Varlamov finished with 24 saves for his NHL-leading 38th win. Bobrovsky had 25 saves.
The Avalanche isn't practicing Wednesday after leaving Columbus and the Eastern time zone rather late after the game. The New York Rangers will visit the Pepsi Center on Thursday night.