Jannik Hansen powers Canucks to victory

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Canucks forward Jannik Hansen is starting to feel good again after missing 16 games with fractured ribs, and the top line is benefiting from it.
Playing for the fifth time since his return, Hansen scored his second goal of the game 3:19 into the third period to break a tie and help the Canucks defeat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Hansen tied the game at 1-1 9:18 into the second period, then put the Canucks ahead on a wrist shot from just inside the blue line that beat goalie Connor Hellebuyck high on the blocker side through traffic.
WATCH: All Jets vs. Canucks highlights
Hansen, who scored a career-high 22 goals while playing with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin last season, has three goals in the past two games.
"That's self-explanatory," Hansen said when asked if he was feeling better. "It takes a little bit [of time] to come back feeling good, getting the endurance back up. Being able to play, not just a period or two, but the whole game. It's definitely a work in progress. ... It's never easy to be out and come back."
Sven Baertschi scored on a breakaway at 6:41 to make it 3-1, and Bo Horvat scored into an empty net with 2:14 remaining. Jacob Markstrom made 31 saves for the Canucks (14-16-3), who are 2-0-1 on a four-game homestand.
"Jannik brings a lot of speed to our line [and] gives us a lot more room to work down low and off the rush," said Henrik Sedin, who had two assists. "He's done a great job since he's been back."

Blake Wheeler scored on a power play and Hellebuyck made 20 saves for the Jets (15-17-3), who are 5-11-2 on the road and play in Vancouver again on Thursday.
"We have a pretty good idea what they are trying to do," Wheeler said. "They are going to have a pretty good idea what we're trying to do. It's going to be a matter of wills next game."
The Jets outshot the Canucks 13-7 in the first period, controlling play for long stretches and generating several great scoring chances. Wheeler made it 1-0 at 14:08, getting around defenseman Alex Biega down the left wing and beating Markstrom just inside the left post for his 10th goal of the season.
"We had a good first period," Wheeler said. "It wasn't for a lack of preparation."
Vancouver regrouped during the first intermission.
"The first [period] wasn't as good as we wanted and we all knew it coming in the locker room," Markstrom said. "I thought we played the rest of the 40 [minutes] pretty good."

Goal of the game

Baertschi blocked Dustin Byfuglien's shot at the blue line, went in on a breakaway and beat Hellebuyck over the glove with a backhand despite not being able to feel his left foot. "Totally numb, didn't feel a thing," he said. "But I will take the pain to get the breakaway."

Save of the game

Markstrom made several tough stops in the first period but the best came at 7:10 on Andrew Copp at the top of the crease after a pass from Mark Scheifele below the goal line.

Unsung performance of the game

Canucks forward Loui Eriksson had a chance to beat Hellebuyck on a wraparound 7:45 into the second period, but Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom dove back to get his stick on the puck first.

Highlight of the game

Jets forward Patrik Laine skated into the top of the left faceoff circle on a power play 2:26 into the first period and sent a rising wrist shot that knocked the mask off Markstrom. "You have to be quick to position [yourself] to square up and be ready when the pucks come," Markstrom said.

They said it

"A lot of the stuff we'd like to handle better, just the simple passes off the tape that we had to stop and battle back on and just bang it out, instead of being able to create anything. That was probably how we got into trouble. We were looking to create things when we didn't need to." -- Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice
"I wasn't happy with the first period and they knew that. We came out with a better effort in the second, competed harder and got rewarded by scoring, and then I think we got a little bit of life." -- Vancouver Canucks coach Willie Desjardins on the momentum change

Need to know

Winnipeg forward Nic Petan returned after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. … Wheeler's power-play goal was Winnipeg's sixth on the road this season. … Winnipeg had given up nine power-play goals on 17 chances the previous five games but Vancouver was 0-for-3 and only managed one shot with the man advantage.

What's next

Canucks: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNV, TSN3, NHL.TV)
Jets: At the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNV, TSN3, NHL.TV)