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NHL Notebook: Inevitably, Sedins Break Out by The Sports Network
After hitching themselves to heart-and- soul leader Ryan Kesler in the second round against the Nashville Predators, Daniel and Henrik Sedin have been the driving force behind Vancouver’s success against the San Jose Sharks.
With a four-point outburst in Game 4 – and setting a club record for assists in a game and series – Henrik vaulted to the top of the playoff scoring leaderboard with 19 points. His 10 points (1-9) versus the Sharks is the highest total he’s had in a series and it’s only been four games.
Daniel Sedin, with eight goals and 15 points in 17 games, hasn’t been too shabby, either.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Sedin twins are finally taking control of a series and imposing their will on the opposition, much like they’ve done in the regular season year after year. They are two of the game’s most dynamic players on the league’s best team and they are expected to produce accordingly.
Henrik and Daniel aren’t built in the same mold as Kesler, or Jonathan Toews, or other playoff horses who fight for every inch of ice with the puck and without it. And because of their lack of physical determination and negligent defensive play, the Sedins have been under constant scrutiny for most of their careers.
Lack of skill has never been an issue, but the same can’t be said of their compete level in the tight-checking, life-or-death urgency of playoff hockey.
And while they will likely never play with the sort of brash moxie exhibited by playoff heroes and leaders of the past, they have world-class skill and an emerging killer instinct that is required on all championship teams.
If the Canucks are to knock off San Jose and continue their recent dominance in the Cup Finals, they’ll need the Sedins to maintain their rabid pace.
Some of the knocks against the Sedin twins are justified, however, particularly when the puck is in Vancouver’s end.
For starters, they are on the ice for a combined average of 3.09 goals against per 60 minutes, which is nearly two goals more than the 1.11 goals against the Canucks allow when the Sedins are on the bench.
That number is even more alarming when you consider how much time they spend in the opposition’s end. Henrik and Daniel lead the team (Daniel is fifth in the league among remaining players) in relative Corsi – a stat that, in a nutshell, is the differential in the total amount of shots directed at the net when a specific player is on the ice.
Although these two figures only represent a fraction of the bigger picture, they do highlight the Sedins’ defensive inadequacies.
But amidst their defensive struggles against Chicago and dried-up offence versus Nashville, the Sedins have maintained a positive attitude, knowing full well it was only a matter of time before they snapped out of their funk.
“We’re both believers that if you work hard and do the right thing it’s going to turn around,” Henrik told reporters following Sunday’s game. “Playoffs are tough … you’ve got to hang in there and hope the other guys are playing great, and they’ve been doing that. You need different guys to step up in every series and that’s why we’re here.”
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