EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Colorado Avalanche tightened their grip on a playoff spot Saturday night by choking out the Edmonton Oilers.

The Avs, who came into the game with a two-point lead for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, increased it to four by shutting down the Oilers in a 3-2 victory at Rexall Place.

"We played really well, we had a lot of jump, we were quick on pucks, we were solid in the battles. I thought we dominated that game," Avs coach Patrick Roy said. "We were very happy with that performance."

Defenseman Tyson Barrie had two goals and an assist as the Avs handed the struggling Oilers their fourth straight home loss.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard held the Oilers to one goal.

"I thought we had a great start and we just kind of took it from there," Barrie said. "We had a lot of O-zone time and limited their chances, and when they had chances, (Pickard) was great. It was a good, solid road game for us."

The Oilers had lost six of their last seven and 10 of their previous 13 games, so they were determined to steer the team back in the right direction. And they got off to a good start, scoring first on winger Taylor Hall's goal at 7:14. It was the first time in four games that the Oilers led.

It was short-lived, however, as the Oilers gave up an easy back-door tap-in to center John Mitchell just four minutes later.

It was 1-1 at the first intermission, but the Avs didn't wait long in the second to take the lead. Barrie, also alone at the back door after another Oilers breakdown in the defensive zone, scored another easy goal at 1:23.

"It's cleaning those up a bit, not giving them those Grade A chances," Oilers winger Jordan Eberle said. "One walked in the slot and two were back door tap-ins. You clean up one of those and it's a tie game."

The Oilers killed off a lengthy five-on-three power play late in the second period to escape with a 2-1 deficit at the second intermission.

But the Avs scored early in the third to give themselves a little insurance when Barrie came through with his second of the game on a wrist shot through traffic.

"Our penalty kill was good," Avs winger Jarome Iginla said. "We would have loved to get one on the five-on-three, but they did a good job killing it off.

"But we were able to keep them from getting a lot of momentum off that. Those five-on-threes can be dangerous. If you score, you're expected to; if you don't, it can be a big boost for them.

"It was good that we were able to have a good third, but it got a little dicey at the end, they were pressuring in the last four minutes."

Oilers winger Benoit Pouliot scored with 1:41 left to cut the lead to 3-2.

Hall thought he scored again midway through the third to close to 3-2, but it was disallowed. Oilers coach Todd McLellan challenged the play and lost.

Hall was not only upset with the call -- and the review -- but the entire process.

"This coach's challenge is tough. You're asking the referee to admit he's wrong in from of 18,000 people by watching a 6-inch tablet," he said. "And the WiFi in our rink is mediocre at best. That's what we're relying on?

"This is not a shot at the refs at all. I don't envy that position. I feel like we'd be better served if it went to a third party. It's not in our nature to admit we're wrong."

NOTES: Oilers D Nikita Nikitin was recalled from the AHL and played his first game with Edmonton since Dec. 27. He and D Andrew Ference are making a combined $7.75 million this season and have combined for 14 games played. ... Colorado winger Jarome Iginla has four goals in his last five games and has 606 for his career. ... Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov has held his last three opponents to two goals each. ... The Oilers had been held to two or less in six of their last eight games ... Despite Edmonton's dismal record, D Andrej Sekera has only been a minus player three times in the last 13 games. Oilers C Connor McDavid's longest scoring drought this season is two games and it's only happened twice. Oilers LW Taylor Hall has 24 points in 21 career games against the Avalanche His last hat trick came against Colorado in 2013.