It sure seems like something magical is happening with the Avalanche, whose chances of sneaking into the playoffs suddenly aren't so far-fetched.

The Avalanche didn't rely on any hocus-pocus Sunday night to pull out a 4-3 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center, but something special definitely is taking place.

The Avalanche overcame a two- goal deficit with three consecutive goals, capped by Milan Hej-duk's wrister that beat Evgeni Nabokov to the short side with a shot past the goalie's glove 19 seconds into the extra period.

"I tried to fake a shot and he went down," said Hejduk, whose 30th goal this season came during a four-on-three power play after Sharks forward Jonathan Chee- choo was penalized for boarding Brett McLean with 13.1 seconds to play in regulation.

"It's a huge two points for us," Hejduk said, "especially with Calgary losing (Saturday). It was a big game for us and a big win."

The victory, coming on the heels of its road win against Phoenix on Saturday, pulled the Avalanche within four points of Calgary for the final Western Conference playoff berth. The Avalanche, on an 8-0-1 tear, and the Flames each have 10 games left and will meet twice.

Avalanche captain Joe Sakic assisted on all four goals, his first four-assist outing since Dec. 3, 2001, against Ottawa.

"The one thing that's happened is, we've put ourselves in a good spot, where we have control of our destiny," Sakic said. "We play Calgary twice, and those are four- point games. We just have to keep building off this."

Cheechoo was upset about his penalty that led to the decisive goal. The Sharks, on a 7-0-2 roll themselves, are chasing Anaheim for first place in the Pacific Division.

"I barely even pushed the guy," Cheechoo said, referring to Mc- Lean. "He fell down and he was the one who shot the puck. I was just finishing my check. I didn't think anything was being called."

The Sharks took a 3-1 lead early in the second period when Milan Michalek and Bill Guerin scored 3:42 apart.

"We still stuck with it," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had a lot of play in their end and we kept pressing. We had some tough luck around the net. (Nabokov) made some huge saves, but this was a great example of finding a way to win."

Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj wasn't happy with Michalek's goal, which came on a shot to the short side from fairly long range, but he closed the door and finished with 21 saves.

"We didn't give up a lot," Budaj said. "That shows the team is playing well in front of me. It's a credit to them, because they're really playing hard."

John-Michael Liles, with his first goal in 10 games, drew the Avalanche to 3-2 at 8:25 of the second period when he chipped the rebound of Andrew Brunette's shot into the net, and Brunette knocked the rebound of Ken Klee's drive inside the right post with 6:46 to go in the third to tie it.

"We hung in there," said Brunette, who has set career highs for goals (25) and points (71). "That's something we don't always do. During the course of the season, at times we tried to get them all back right away and we opened ourselves up, and the next thing you know it's 4-0 or 4-1."

When the Avalanche failed to take advantage of a five-on-three power play that lasted 1:07 early in the third period, it was the kind of setback that not too long ago probably would have cost the team a close game.

"I think confidence is a big thing," Sakic said. "Over this stretch, when you put a good win streak together, you play with confidence, and right now we're believing in one another."

The Avalanche had to kill off a hooking penalty to Sakic that began with 3:30 remaining in regulation and did it while limiting the Sharks to one shot.

The teams exchanged first-period power-play goals, with Joe Thornton scoring for the Sharks and Tyler Arnason for the Avalanche.

ETC.: The Avalanche outshot the Sharks 40-24 and has had 40 shots or more 13 times this season. . . . Budaj started for the ninth consecutive game and has played in all but four of the Avalanche's 33 games since Dec. 27. . . . The Sharks' Ron Wilson became the 13th person in NHL history to coach 1,000 games. He has posted a 462-422-116 record with the Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals. Scotty Bowman holds the record of 2,141 games.

San Jose......1	2	0	0	-	3
Colorado......1	1	1	1	-	4

First period - 1, SJ, Thornton 20 (Carle, Michalek), 8:14 (pp). 2, Col, Arnason 16 (Clark, Sakic), 11:55 (pp). Penalties - Hejduk, Col, (hooking), 7:25; Bell, SJ (charging), 10:14; Col bench, served by Rycroft (too many men), 12:48.

Second period - 3, SJ, Michalek 20 (Thornton, Hannan), :27. 4, SJ, Guerin 33 (Vlasic, Marleau), 4:09. 5, Col, Liles 12 (Brunette, Sakic), 8:25. Penalties - Arnason, Col, (hooking), 5:18; Bell, SJ (cross-checking), 11:21.

Third period - 6, Col, Brunette 25 (Klee, Sakic), 13:14. Penalties - Guerin, SJ (high-sticking), 1:01; Rissmiller, SJ (tripping), 1:54; Sakic, Col, (hooking), 16:30; Cheechoo, SJ (boarding), 19:46.

Overtime - 7, Col, Hejduk 30 (Sakic, Budaj), :19 (pp). Penalties - None.

Shots - SJ 9-10-5-0 - 24. Col 9-17-13-1 - 40. Power plays - SJ 1 of 4; Col 2 of 5. Goalies - SJ, Nabokov 19-16-3 (40 shots-36 saves). Col, Budaj 26-15-5 (24-21). A - 18,007 (18,007). T - 2:20. Referees - Wes McCauley, Chris Rooney. Linesmen - Shane Heyer, Jay Sharrers.

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com Avalanche 4, Sharks 3, OT

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