B.C.

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Vancouver Canucks' Henrik Sedin, left, of Sweden, skates behind Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, of Russia, to chase after the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday February 15, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Jannik Hansen scored with 6:29 remaining Wednesday as the Vancouver Canucks continued their lengthy domination of Colorado with a 3-1 victory over the Avalanche.

Hansen, who had gone 12 games without a goal, took Cody Hodgson's pass and drilled a shot over the shoulder of backup goalie Semyon Varlamov for a 2-1 lead.

A defensive zone turnover led to the goal, Hansen's 14th of the season but his first game-winner. Alex Burrows scored his 20th goal of the season into an empty net.

David Booth opened the scoring for Vancouver but Erik Johnson gave the young Avalanche a 1-1 second-period tie.

The Canucks have not lost to the Avalanche since Nov. 1, 2009, posting a 13-0-2 record in that 15-game span.

Vancouver (36-15-6) again closed to within two points of Western Conference-leading Detroit with their eighth win in 11 games and points in the three losses beyond 60 minutes.

The Avalanche (28-26-4) ended a string of getting at least one point in four straight games and remain three points out of the last playoff berth in the West.

Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo made 29 saves and held Colorado off the scoresheet in the final minutes, making a close-in stop off Paul Stastny and robbing Ryan O'Reilly on the rebound.

Varlamov made two key saves to preserve a 1-1 tie after 40 minutes. He got a glove on a quick shot by Maxim Lapierre and a right pad on Booth's effort after he broke in alone.

Booth gave the Canucks the lead with his third goal in as many games 13 seconds after the opening face-off.

He took Mason Raymond's pass in the Colorado zone, drove through traffic and beat starting goalie J.S. Giguere with a backhand over his glove.

Booth, who is making a habit of going hard to the opposition's net lately, was falling as he scored his 11th of the season and seventh in 12 starts since returning from a knee injury.

The Canucks peppered Giguere, who had to be sharp to stay in front of several point blasts through traffic.

Giguere left the game with a groin injury during a TV timeout at 16:06 of the first period.

The Avs also lost winger T.J. Galiardi to injury midway through the period.

Luongo sprawled to foil Kevin Porter's tip of Jay McClement's pass through his crease to keep Vancouver ahead with 2.7 seconds left in the opening period.

Colorado dominated early in the second period and Luongo didn't bite on a Gabriel Landeskog fake as the Swedish rookie came close during a power play.

The Avalanche kept pressing and equalized when Johnson, who had only one goal in his first 50 games, scored his second in as many nights.

Luongo blocked Johnson's first shot, Milan Hejduk controlled the rebound and returned the puck to Johnson who had a wide open net.

Notes: Peter Mueller, who had five goals in his last nine games, was out of the Avs' lineup with a torso injury. ... Hejduk played his 968th game for Colorado, moving into second on the club's all-time games-played list behind the retired Joe Sakic. ... Hejduk turned 36 on Tuesday. ... Colorado centre Matt Duchene is practising with the team but was out for a 19th game with a right knee injury. ... Winger Chris Higgins returned to the Vancouver lineup after missing six games because of an adverse reaction to medication prescribed for a bacterial infection. ... The Avs complete a three-game Western Canada swing Friday in Edmonton and Sunday in Winnipeg.