Avalanche 3, Flames 2: Alex Tanguay had a goal and an assist as host Colorado kept its playoff hopes alive with its fifth victory in six games.

Ryan O'Reilly and John Mitchell also scored as the Avalanche moved within five points of Winnipeg for the second wild card in the cluttered Western Conference. Defenseman Tyson Barrie collected a pair of assists and Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves to win his fifth consecutive start.

David Jones and Lance Bouma netted third-period goals and had an assist apiece for Calgary, which fell to 5-1-1 in March and dropped one point behind Vancouver for second place in the Pacific Division. Mikael Backlund recorded a pair of assists and Karri Ramo turned aside 23 shots in his first regulation defeat since Feb. 27.

Following a scoreless opening period, Tanguay took a pass along the left boards, skated below the goal line and snuck a shot between Ramo and the post midway though the second. Colorado doubled the lead 1:47 later as Tanguay sent a lead pass to O'Reilly, who cut in from the right wing before lifting a forehand over the shoulder of Ramo from in tight.

The Flames sliced the deficit in half at 3:54 of the third as Backlund's backhand pass into the crease caromed off Jones' skate and into the net, but Mitchell answered 28 seconds later by snapping a shot past the glove of Ramo from the right circle. The Flames again cut the deficit to one on Bouma's blast from the top of the left circle with 14:12 to play but were unable to get the equalizer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: O'Reilly snapped a 17-game goalless drought but he has collected nine assists in the last 11 contests. ... Backlund stretched his point streak to eight games but Fs Sean Monahan and rookie Johnny Gaudreau had their six-game strings snapped. ... Barrie notched his 34th and 35th assists to give him 14 points in 11 games.