Twins, peaks
Jannik Hansen is now a father to twins, but the second line is still having growing pains
Their goalies have dozed off and the power play has yet to awake from a prolonged slumber.
You could understand if Jannik Hansen was lumped into those concerns because sleep has been an afterthought for the Vancouver Canucks’ winger.
However, with goals in his last three games and his wife Karen giving birth to twin boys Lucas and Daniel on Sunday at 5:30 a.m., Hansen is running on adrenalin.
A snow delay in Calgary allowed Hansen to first bolt to the hospital in Vancouver for the births and make the team charter flight, and he even scored in a 4-2 loss to the Flames. The twins were born early at 29 weeks and remain in hospital.
“I was pretty impressed with (Hansen in) the Calgary game for sure,” Chris Higgins said Wednesday before the Canucks departed on a threegame road trip that opens today in Columbus, where the Blue Jackets have won two straight and have points in their last four outings.
“I took a look at him on the bench a couple of times and I think he was sleeping between shifts. He gained a lot of respect from me in that game and then he follows it up with a fantastic game. I just hope he keeps it going.”
On Tuesday, Hansen scored the 2-2 equalizer on a drop pass by Mason Raymond with Higgins providing the screen in a 3-2 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.
And with Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider surrendering a soft goal in their last starts and the power play in an 0-for-15 funk the last six games — and 4-for-30 in the last 10 — the speedy second line must remain effective on both sides of the puck if the Canucks expect to maintain their dwindling Northwest Division lead. All this while Hansen stays on speed-dial to check on the twins.
“It’s getting better, but obviously it’s still new and there are lots of things to adjust to,” said Hansen.
“They’re going to be in the hospital for a while because they were born a little bit too early, so there’s going to be a lot of care for them there.”
The care that Hansen’s line shows has made the trio effective against any opposition.
There’s an obvious speed element to out-race defenders, but also a forechecking and feisty focus that can overwhelm in offensive-zone board battles. The Sharks looked tired when the line had that dominant, second-period shift that resulted in Hansen’s sixth goal of the season through a Higgins screen.
“That goal is all him,” said Hansen. “If he’s not there, that’s an easy save for (Antti) Niemi. We’re feeding off each other and making it work with good cycles and catching teams on the rush. It’s a little bit of everything and trying to adjust to the opponent. If it’s a bigger and slower D-man, we’re trying to take him on the rush and with a smaller player, we’re trying to get in deep and cycle more.”
It’s working. Part of it is the tenacity of Higgins and Hansen and the skill level of Raymond, who also has six goals. And part of it is a revolving lineup where familiarity has come through injuries, the latest being starting the season without Ryan Kesler and losing him again for another month with a broken right foot. As long as Hansen can stay awake, the Canucks have a line they may actually keep intact through March because coach Alain Vigneault said he’s “extremely happy” with the alignment.
“Jannik likes his sleep, that’s for sure,” chuckled Raymond. “With the birth of his kids, I don’t think he slept the night before and his play has been remarkable of late. He’s seeing the ice very well and it’s his grit and determination on those pucks — he’s making the most of his opportunities. We kind of started our careers together and you know the tendencies. And when we’re buzzing like that, we’re very effective.”
That’s the good news. The bad news is inconsistent goaltending and non-existent special teams. The Canucks were first on the power play and tied for second in penalty killing in 2010-11. They were fourth and sixth, respectively, last season and currently rank 20th on the power play and 19th on the penalty kill. Alex Burrows and Henrik Sedin had great power-play chances down low Tuesday but couldn’t convert.
“Our first two weren’t effective and I liked the last three and we had something like 10 scoring chances,” said Vigneault, who had Jordan Schroeder manning the point in the absence of Kevin Bieksa and Kesler. “Between the second and third periods, we said we’d give it one more look and stuck with it.”
Vigneault wouldn’t name his starter for today but did admit past performances come into play. Luongo has been pulled from his last three starts in Minnesota and has a 7.00 goals-against average and .873 save percentage. He’s been hooked in five of his 14 starts there and hasn’t started a game at the Xcel Energy Center since Oct. 19, 2010.
That may indicate Luongo plays in Columbus today, Schneider faces the Wild on Sunday and the Blue Jackets next Tuesday.
“Both have had solid moments and some they’d like to have back,” said Vigneault. “They both would like to get on a roll, and we’ll see what happens.”
OF NOTE: Bieksa (groin) is still day-to-day. Keith Ballard (charley horse) felt better after clipping legs with Andrew Desjardins Tuesday. Vinny Prospal, 38, leads the Jackets with nine goals and 14 points. Sergei Bobrovsky starts in goal.