EDMONTON - It wasn’t that the message was lost somewhere between Oklahoma City and Edmonton, but looking back, Teemu Hartikainen figures maybe his resolution wavered somewhere between the AHL and the NHL.

He must have found it on his way from the press box to the lineup.

But after playing spectator for a game, the Finnish winger was at his bull-headed best when he slipped back onto the Edmonton Oilers’ fourth line against the Colorado Avalanche.

He’ll just have to continue to play that way when the Oilers drop into Phoenix, San Jose and Colorado for their next three games — a road trip that starts Wednesday against the Coyotes.

“Maybe it just took me a little bit of time to adjust to the NHL again,” Hartikainen said. “But I found my legs, and I found the way I need to play. I know I can keep the puck in the corners now.

“I know now it doesn’t matter if it’s the NHL or the AHL, I can do exactly the same thing. That’s a big deal. It gives me a lot of confidence.”

Hartikainen came out of the 4-1 Oilers victory over the Avs with three hits, a shot on net and an assist that came after he parked his 214-pound frame in front of goaltender Semyon Varlamov. Once he was stationed in the goaltender’s way, he took a shot in the back from Erik Johnson and another from Matt Hunwick to set up an Ales Hemsky tap in on a first period power play.

There were other blue-collar, blue-paint moments in a game that bear repeating.

“I got noticed and people liked what they saw, but I have to do it every night,” he said. “It’s hard work, but I do have to keep doing it. It pays off. We scored a power-play goal, so that makes it feel good.

“I found consistency in Oklahoma, so I know I can do it.”

Hartikainen was reeled up from the roster of the Oklahoma City Barons after the lockout ended and stepped right onto the third line with Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Smyth. The expectation was that he’d be able to just bring the same game he’d been playing in the AHL.

But he was moved down to the fourth by Game 3 then up to the press box against the Calgary Flames in an attempt to get him going.

“It was good for me to watch the game in Calgary so I could take a look at the things I wasn’t seeing on the ice when I was playing,” he said.

“I saw that there was plenty of ice available that I could use to my advantage.”

Right-winger Magnus Paajarvi had a strong game, too, on the fourth line, and Lennart Petrell, bumped up to the third, was effective, but it was Hartikainen who really had an impact — both in five-on-five situations and on the power play, where he took over from veteran Ryan Smyth.

“He played his best game,” head coach Ralph Krueger said. “It was the kind of game we expected. The game that we had seen in Oklahoma City. He played very aggressive down low with the puck, he had more confidence.

“He just took a big step.”

jireland@edmontonjournal.com

Twitter.com/jirelandEJ

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