DENVER -- Vancouver was down a defenseman and playing for the second night in a row, so getting to overtime seemed like a victory.

The Canucks wanted more, and Jacob Markstrom made sure they got it.

Markstrom stopped 32 shots and all three Colorado attempts in the shootout, Marcus Granlund got the only goal and the Canucks beat the Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday night.

Loui Eriksson and Alexandre Burrows scored in regulation for Vancouver and Markstrom stopped Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Matt Duchene to give the Canucks their fifth win in nine games.

"We were short a D early there with (Alexander) Edler, but the guys really battled tonight," Markstrom said. "It's a nice win and a nice way to wrap up a three-game road trip."

Jarome Iginla and Mikhail Grigorenko scored for the Avalanche (9-10-1) and Calvin Pickard had 29 saves in place of injured Semyon Varlamov.

The Canucks were coming off a 2-1 loss in Dallas on Friday and playing in altitude on the second game in as many nights, and then things got tougher when Edler left in the first period after blocking Carl Soderberg's shot with his hand.

He went to the locker room with what the team classified as an upper-body injury and didn't return.

Edler had 3:59 of ice time in five shifts before departing.

"He'll go back and get X-rays," Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins said.

Both teams had several chances to end it overtime. Vancouver (9-11-2) got a power play in the final 20 seconds but couldn't score.

Granlund beat Pickard on Vancouver's first attempt of the shootout and Markstrom made it stand up.

"I thought I had it," Pickard said. "I got a piece of it with my stick, but obviously not enough, so we were behind the eight-ball after round one."

It was Colorado's first loss after regulation this season.

"When it gets to a shootout, it's a coin toss for me at that point," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said.

Burrows' goal 1:26 into the third period gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead and continued a hot streak for his line. Burrows has two goals and two assists in the last four games and center Bo Horvat has six points in his last four games.

"We're reading off each other well," Burrows said. "Right now, we're getting some chances. I thought we could have had a couple of more tonight, especially in the first when we had a two-on-one and the puck got stuck on the side of the net."

Iginla tied it at 3:56 with his third goal of the season. It was Iginla's first goal in 12 games.

Eriksson gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal when he beat Pickard high on the short side 3:46 into the game. It was his fifth on the season and third goal in four games.

Grigorenko tied it midway through the second period. After Soderberg put a backhander on net, Grigorenko's initial shot went off Markstrom, and then he batted his rebound out of the air for his second goal of the season.

"A quick play to the net and I was just trying to get the rebound, the puck was bouncing and it just popped in the air," Grigorenko said. "I got a stick on it and it went in."

The Avalanche got a scare 22 seconds into the second period when MacKinnon lost an edge and slammed his back into the boards. He was on the ice for a few minutes but skated to the bench. He didn't miss a shift.

"It was pretty scary for me," Bednar said. "I was hoping he just got the wind knocked out of him. He went in hard there in full stride, lost an edge and took out the goalie. It was good to see him get back up and keep going."

NOTES: Colorado G Semyon Varlamov's upper-body injury kept him out of Saturday's game, but it is not expected to be a long-term situation. Coach Jared Bednar said he hoped Varlamov will return in the next few days. The Avalanche recalled Spencer Martin from San Antonio to serve as Calvin Pickard's backup. ... Vancouver LW Sven Baertschi missed his second straight game with a foot injury. He took a shot off his skate in Wednesday's game in Arizona. ... Avalanche LW Gabriel Landeskog missed his fifth straight game with a lower-body injury. Landeskog was scheduled to be on the ice for the morning skate but did not participate. ... The Canucks sent D Alex Biega to Utica of the AHL on a conditioning assignment.