VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Getting better means being more consistent for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Right winger Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway with 1:09 left in overtime to give the Lightning a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

It's the first time since mid-December that Tampa Bay has won consecutive games. The Lightning (21-17-4) have three wins in their last four games and moved into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"We need these points," said Kucherov, who scored his 16th goal of the season and also had an assist. "Every game we try to jump hard and play hard.

You don't want to lose a game. We have to play our structure and keep working hard."

The Lightning were coming off an emotional 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. They still had enough energy to outshoot Vancouver 17-5 in the third period.

"We had the compete level that was there throughout most of the game," said center Alex Killorn, who opened the Lightning scoring in the first period. "We were happy the way we played.

"To put two together, especially in back-to-backs, is nice for us."

Kucherov scored after Canucks center Henrik Sedin got caught in a line change. That allowed Kucherov to take a pass from defenseman Vladislav Namestnikov and beat Vancouver goaltender Jacob Markstrom with low shot with 1:09 left in overtime.

"I trusted our guys were going to win the battle and get the puck," Kucherov said. "I got open."

The Lightning, a Stanley Cup finalist last year, have struggled this year. Injuries to key players like centers Tyler Johnson and Cedric Paquette have cost them over 112 man games.

Head coach Jon Cooper said finally getting healthy again has helped his team turn a corner.

"We're halfway through the season and we're not where we expected to be, but we finally got our team back," Cooper said. "It's been hard to be consistent when lines are changing every single night because guys are getting hurt.

"We finally got healthy and some stability in our group. We're starting to put wins together where we are closing teams out in the third. You can see the confidence growing in our room with every period we play."

Center Valtteri Filppula also scored for Tampa Bay, which improved its record to 3-3-1 in the second game of back-to-backs.

"We just have to try to win games instead of looking at standings," Filppula said. "It's been going back and forth, win one, lose one. Consistency is obviously important.

"Now a couple of wins, hopefully we keep it going."

Center Bo Horvat forced overtime when he scored for Vancouver with 2:50 left in the third period.

"It's tough," Horvat said. "Any time when you play as well as we did and only get one point, it's tough.

"We have to take the positives out of it and move on."

Overtime hasn't been kind to the Canucks, who dropped to 1-8 this season.

"It's fun for the fans, not so much for the goalies," said Markstrom, who stopped 32 shots. "It is what it is."

Left winger Sven Baertschi scored on the power play for Vancouver (16-16-10). He has seven points, including five goals, in his last seven games.

Horvat, who also had an assist, has five points (4-1) in three games after going 27 games without a goal.

"I'm just feeling the confidence," he said. "My shot is going in now.

It's no secret the way things are going for me right now."

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said both Horvat and Baertschi have improved as the season progressed.

"Both guys are playing with more confidence," he said. "When they're coming to the rink, they're excited.

"Confidence is such a big part of the game and they both have good ability."

The Canucks are 3-2-1 on their season-long, seven-game homestand.

NOTES: Canucks RW Jake Virtanen, who played for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 30. ... RW Jannik Hansen (upper body injury) was placed on IR. ... G Ryan Miller, who hasn't played since suffering a groin injury on Dec. 20, was the backup. ... C Jared McCann and D Andrey Pedan were healthy scratches. ... RW Emerson Etem, acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers on Friday, participated in the morning skate but did not dress. ... LW Chris Higgins returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Wednesday. ... Vancouver's homestand ends Monday against Florida. ... Lightning G Ben Bishop got the night off after starting 15 of the last 17 games. ... D Mathew Carle and C Jonathan Marchessault were healthy scratches. ... RW Joel Vermin (hand) was out with an injury. ... The Lightning end their four-game road trip Tuesday in Colorado.