ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jannik Hansen was nearly run over Monday night in Edmonton.

As the media scrum shifted from overtime hero Chris Tanev to saviour Roberto Luongo following a 3-2 victory over the Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks winger sat stoically in his stall beside the goaltender and then had to shift over. After all, lost in the euphoria of Tanev’s first career NHL goal was Hansen’s gritty effort in the second period to start the climb back from a two-goal deficit.

Hansen not only went behind the net and outbattled Lennart Petrell for the puck, he spun on the centre and then found the short side on Devan Dubnyk. The effort wasn’t lost on Alain Vigneault, who juggled his lines in the second period to put Hansen with Jordan Schroeder and Mason Raymond.

“What he did was he took our work ethic and our desperation to another level,” said the Canucks coach. “He took it up another notch and the team followed suit. He was one of the key forces in my mind in changing the momentum of that game.”

What changed for the Canucks is what has been working for them as long as Hansen has been a Canuck. He started this season on the first power-play unit and, on Monday, was aligned with Chris Higgins and Schroeder on the third line.

After the club mustered but six first-period shots, Vigneault played juggler again. It didn’t take long for the Canucks to hit their stride and finish with a season-high 40 shots, or for Hansen to re-discover what he does best: use his speed, battle for pucks and get them to the net. That’s how he hit a career-high 16 goals last season and how he finally got his first this season.

“I was able to dig the puck out and tried to pass it a couple of times but they were crowding me,” recalled Hansen. “Fortunately, the puck was able to go off the goalie’s back or something and go in. I just tried to throw it on net and I knew Mason was there.

“Juggling lines is our strength and it doesn’t matter who plays with whom. Everybody seems to jell in one way or the other, so when injuries happen it doesn’t catch you off guard and you can jump in seamlessly.”

There’s also a parallel between those who played in Europe or in the minors during the lockout and how quick they have looked so far in the shortened season. Dale Weise had instant jump while Schroeder, Tanev and Zack Kassian have benefitted from playing for the Chicago Wolves. As for Hansen, he downplayed any lasting advantage gained by his seven goals and 10 assists in 20 games for Tappara of the Finnish elite league. They aren’t remembered as much as the 25 minutes in penalties he was assessed playing against Miiko Jokela of HIFK — five minutes for violence and a 20-minute match penalty.

“I’m still mystified over that,” he said. “European hockey is more laid back and, at one point, we were bussing to a dinner at the European Challenge with the team we were playing against. It’s a little different eating with teams after a game. I don’t want to say there’s the same level of hate as the NHL, but it’s a different mentality over there.”

Over here, the Canucks have to be concerned about a power play that went 0-for-4 Monday and is in a 1-for-23 funk. Gaining the zone hasn’t been a problem — especially with those drop passes in the neutral zone to get in on the attack with speed — but the stoic nature of what occurs after that has to be addressed.

“We’ve been getting by,” said winger Daniel Sedin, who had four shots and three hits against the Oilers. “If our power play and our penalty kill were better, we’d probably win games easier than we are now. But you have to keep being confident, you can’t start to panic. We’ve got to be at the right spots at the right time and a good power play knows when the shots are coming and guys are hungry for rebounds.

“We’re kind of waiting for the pass and not being at the right place when the shots are being taken, and that’s the one thing we can be better. And when we’re unpredictable, that’s when we’re at our best. When you’re struggling, you tend to be standing still and not moving. But our last two periods were our best so far and that’s what we have to build on. For me, personally, that game was probably my best.”

The Minnesota Wild are expected to bring out the best in the Canucks on Thursday. By adding free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the division rivals have added another level of talent. The Canucks were 4-2-0 against the Wild last season but were 1-2-0 in Minnesota. It’s also been the “Exit” Energy Center for Luongo, who was pulled in each of his last three starts there. He’s 3-9-1 in Minnesota, with a 3.56 goals-against average and an .873 saves percentage.

That would seem to indicate that Cory Schneider will get the start.

Right, coach?

“We’re not there yet,” Vigneault responded.

bkuzma@theprovince.com

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