DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov had 37 saves for his second shutout of the season and 20th of his career, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the red-hot Anaheim Ducks 3-0 on Thursday night.

Nathan MacKinnon, Andreas Martinsen and Shawn Matthias scored for the Avalanche.

Colorado finished 3-1 on its homestand and moved two points ahead of Minnesota for the second wild card in the Western Conference. The Avalanche played two more games than the Wild.

John Gibson had 23 saves for Anaheim (37-20-9). The Ducks, who had their 11-game winning streak snapped in a shootout against Washington on Monday, lost consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 17.

They fell a point behind Los Angeles for first place in the Pacific Division and their first regulation loss since Feb. 8. They are 18-2-2 in their last 22 games

Varlamov has stopped 37 of 38 shots in two games since returning to the net after a two-game benching.

Colorado killed off all three Anaheim power plays and has successfully killed off 22 straight.

The Avalanche (35-30-4) thought they made it 4-0 early in the third but Matthias was ruled offside before he beat Gibson with a shot. Replays showed Matthias entered the zone just after the puck.

Colorado went ahead 1-0 when defenseman Erik Johnson lofted the puck out of his end to the Ducks blue line, MacKinnon picked it up just inside the Anaheim zone and with Josh Manson draped on him he flicked the puck over Gibson's left shoulder at 10:54 of the first.

It was MacKinnon's 21st.

The Avalanche took a 3-0 lead with two late goals in the second period. Martinsen, playing for the first time in nine games, made it 2-0 with a backhander at 17:19 for his third goal of the season.

After a flurry in front of Colorado's net, Matthias scored with 29 seconds left in the period on a pass by Carl Soderberg from behind the net. It was his ninth and third since joining the Avalanche on Feb. 21.

NOTES: Avalanche RW Blake Comeau (back) and D Zach Redmond (lower-body injury) missed practice Tuesday but were in the lineup against Anaheim. Redmond's status wasn't decided until he went through the warmup before the game. ... Ducks LW Jamie McGinn faced his former team Wednesday. McGinn started his career with San Jose and came to Colorado in a trade-deadline deal in 2012. The Avalanche sent him to Buffalo last offseason, and he was dealt to the Ducks on Feb. 29. ... Avalanche D Chris Bigras missed his second straight game with a concussion. RW Jack Skille was also scratched. ... Former Avalanche C Chris Wagner, who was claimed off waivers by Anaheim last month, was reassigned to the AHL on Saturday.