DENVER -- Jonathan Drouin was nearly out of gas, but he found enough in his tank to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a big win.

Drouin scored unassisted at 2:27 of overtime, and the Lightning beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Sunday night.

Ben Bishop made 27 saves, Brayden Point and Vladislav Namestnikov also had goals for Tampa Bay (26-24-8).

Mikko Rantanen scored early in the third period, Matt Duchene tied it in the final minute of regulation, and Calvin Pickard had 37 saves for the Avalanche (16-38-3).

Drouin got the winner after a long shift in which he twice stole the puck from the Avalanche. The second time, he took it off Matt Nieto in front of Colorado's net and beat Pickard with a backhander for his 17th of the season.

"I was gassed," Drouin said. "It's one move, go one way and hopefully (the goalie) bites on that move, and I think he did a bit."

The Lightning picked up two valuable points and three in back-to-back games to keep pace in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race. They are 13th in the conference but just five points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who holds the second wild-card position.

"It's big. I can't stress enough how much this extra point tonight helps," Bishop said. "Obviously, you want to get that extra point (Saturday) night, but when you can get three out of four points instead of two out of four, it's a big difference."

The Avalanche are now 7-19-2 at home but have gone 2-1-1 in the past four games at Pepsi Center. Colorado has earned three points in the past two games after losing five in a row.

"Tonight we're down 2-0 against one of the most talented offensive teams in the league," said Duchene, who also had an assist on Rantanen's goal. "'Pick' was able to play outstanding for us and keep us in it, and we were able to find a couple goals late."

Tampa Bay had chances to put the game on ice in regulation but couldn't convert. Tyler Johnson had a goal waved off for interfering with the goaltender at 10:44 of the third, and Nikita Kucherov, who had nine shots on goal, hit a post moments later to keep the score 2-1.

"The ref tried to say I had room to get my skate out of the way, but there's no room if the D-man's kind of right there," Johnson said of his disallowed goal. "We've been burned on that before; it kind of seems like a coin flip."

Those near misses nearly cost the Lightning. Pickard came off for an extra skater with 1:40 left, and Duchene tied it 58 seconds later when his shot ricocheted off Tampa Bay defensemen Victor Hedman and Jake Dotchin and past Bishop for his 16th of the season.

"Bishop's great all game, to get one shot off one guy, off Dotch and go in definitely sucks," Drouin said. "Guys were calm on the bench, and we got that other point in OT."

The teams traded chances in the first period, but Tampa Bay got the only goal when Point scored at 18:18. It was his eighth of the season and his fifth in the past eight games since missing 14 games with an upper-body injury.

Namestnikov made it 2-0 midway through the second period on what looked like an innocent shot. He came down the left side with defenseman Tyson Barrie shadowing him, but Namestnikov slid a shot along the ice and through Pickard's legs at 10:09.

"(Pickard) gave us a chance to win the game, gave us a chance to come back and get the point," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "Overall, I didn't mind his game except the one shot."

Rantanen cut the lead in half when he scored on the rebound of a Blake Comeau miss at 2:46 of the third period. It was his 13th of the season and second in as many games. The rookie has seven goals and three assists in the past 12 games.

NOTES: Lightning C Cory Conacher was a healthy scratch and was expected to be reassigned to AHL Syracuse. Conacher was recalled Saturday morning in case Jonathan Drouin could not play against Dallas that night due to illness, but Drouin was in the lineup. ... Avalanche F Rene Bourque continues to be sidelined with a head injury. He has not played in eight games and has missed 11 of the last 14 overall. ... Tampa Bay D Luke Witkowski and Colorado D Cody Goloubef were healthy scratches. ... Avalanche D Tyson Barrie played in his first home game since Jan. 17. He missed eight games with a lower-body injury but returned during Colorado's recent road trip.