Hansen's tiebreaking goal leads Canucks over Avs
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jannik Hansen scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:29 remaining, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Wednesday night.
Hansen, who had gone 12 games without a goal, took Cody Hodgson's pass and drilled a shot over the shoulder of backup goalie Semyon Varlamov to give Vancouver a 2-1 lead. A defensive zone turnover led to Hansen's 14th of the season and first game-winner. Alex Burrows scored his 20th of the season into an empty net.
David Booth opened the scoring for the Canucks, who are 13-0-2 against the Avalanche since their last loss to Colorado on Nov. 1, 2009.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Erik Johnson tied the game for the Avalanche with a second-period goal.
The Canucks (36-15-6) again closed to within two points of Western Conference-leading Detroit with their eighth win in 11 games. They also have points in the three overtime losses.
The Avalanche (28-26-4), who had earned at least one point in four straight games, are three points below the postseason cutoff in the West.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roberto Luongo made 29 saves and held Colorado off the score sheet in the final minutes. He made a close-in stop against Paul Stastny and robbed Ryan O'Reilly on the rebound.
Varlamov made two key saves to keep the game tied through 40 minutes. He got a glove on a quick shot by Maxim Lapierre and a right pad on Booth's attempt after he broke in alone.
Booth gave the Canucks the lead with his third goal in three games, 13 seconds after the opening faceoff. He took Mason Raymond's pass in the Colorado zone, drove through traffic and beat starting goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere with a backhander over his glove.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Booth was falling as he scored his 11th of the season and seventh in 12 games since he returned from a knee injury.
The Canucks peppered Giguere, who had to be sharp to stay in front of several point drives through traffic.
Giguere left the game with a groin injury during a television timeout at 16:06 of the first period. The Avs also lost winger T.J. Galiardi to an injury midway through the period.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Luongo sprawled to foil Kevin Porter's tip of Jay McClement's pass through the crease to keep Vancouver ahead with 2.7 seconds left in the opening period.
Colorado dominated early in the second period, and Luongo didn't bite on Gabriel Landeskog's fake as the Swedish rookie came close during a power play.
The Avalanche kept pressing and tied it when Johnson, who had only one goal in his first 50 games, scored his second in two nights.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Luongo blocked Johnson's first shot, Milan Hejduk controlled the rebound, and returned the puck to Johnson who had a wide-open net.
NOTES: Peter Mueller, who had five goals in nine games, was out of the Avalanche lineup because of a torso injury. ... Hejduk played in his 968th game for Colorado, moving him into second place on the franchise's games-played list behind the retired Joe Sakic. Hejduk turned 36 on Tuesday. ... Colorado C Matt Duchene is practicing with the team, but sat out his 19th game with a right knee injury. ... F Chris Higgins returned to the Vancouver lineup after missing six games because of a bad reaction to medication prescribed for a bacterial infection. ... The Avs will complete a three-game Western Canada swing Friday at Edmonton and Sunday at Winnipeg.