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Returns of Hansen, Tanev have been key for Canucks

Blue Jackets Canucks Hockey

Vancouver Canucks right wing Jannik Hansen (36) celebrates his goal past Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) with teammate Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat (53) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP)

AP

The Vancouver Canucks could not afford to have another injury-filled season. They just aren’t deep enough to lose key players for extended periods.

And yet, another injury-filled season is exactly what they’ve had. According to the website Man-Games Lost, Vancouver’s been the NHL’s fifth-most impacted team by injuries to their skaters, after Winnipeg, Detroit, Buffalo, and Boston.

The Canucks have only just started to get healthy again. First-line winger Jannik Hansen returned Dec. 11 after missing 16 games with a fractured rib. Top-pairing defenseman Chris Tanev returned Dec. 16; he’s missed 23 games in all with an ankle injury.

In a related story, with last night’s 4-1 win over Winnipeg, the Canucks improved to 2-0-1 in the three games that both Hansen and Tanev have been back. The former has three goals in those three games; the latter is plus-3 with two assists.

“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, per the Canadian Press. “He’s done a great job since he’s been back.”

The Canucks still have injuries. Defensemen Alex Edler, Erik Gudbranson and Philip Larsen are all out with various ailments. Up front, winger Derek Dorsett is done for the season after undergoing neck surgery.

But Edler (broken finger) should be back shortly after the Christmas break, and that should provide a boost similar in strength to the returns of Hansen and Tanev. They may also, finally, get forward Anton Rodin into the lineup. He’s yet to play for them due to a lingering knee injury, but he’s been down in the AHL on a conditioning stint, and the reviews have been good.

The Canucks (14-16-3) could use all the boosts they can get. They’re currently four points back of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference. While that doesn’t sound like much of a deficit, with all the three-point games in the NHL, it’s a considerable amount of ground to make up.

In fact, according to the website Sports Club Stats, the Canucks will need to go in the neighborhood of 26-17-6 in their remaining games to get into the playoffs.

Is that likely to happen? No, probably not.

But if they can avoid further injuries, it’s at least in the realm of possible.

Related: The Canucks have a big decision to make with Erik Gudbranson