Tragedy looms over Sedins’ swan song

OILERS 3, CANUCKS 2 (SO)

How do you lighten heavy hearts?

You don’t. Maybe one day. Maybe some day. Not Saturday.

The tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash on Friday that claimed 15 lives shook the hockey world to its core. The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers had a season finale to play, but their thoughts were more than 600 kilometres away in the Saskatchewan city of 6,000 shocked and grieving residents.

Yet, there was still a game to play. It was a final farewell for Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

Somebody had to say something to cut the tension. Leave it to the captain.

Asked about facing scoring leader Connor McDavid in his final NHL outing, he offered up this gem: “That was part of our retirement decision,” said Henrik Sedin. “Our kids started to talk about Connor McDavid instead of us.”

Here’s what we learned in the Sedins’ swan song, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Oilers:

NO HITTER

This was going to be an NHL Players’ Association special: Don’t hit me and I won’t hit you. It was the final game of the season and the last thing any player wanted was to get hurt.

As for the Sedins, Daniel had five shots. Henrik had three. Daniel scored during the shootout.

FROM MILD TO WILD

The Canucks finished with a 5-11 spurt. They didn’t quit. They have a Hobey Baker Award winner in Adam Gaudette. They have Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and Thatcher Demko coming. They have hope.

LOOK, LISTEN, LEARN

Somebody is going to give Jussi Jokinen a contract next season.

It won’t be in Vancouver, but the trade deadline acquisition did what you’d like every player to do. He’s 35 and was told he might not play much. He didn’t pout. He told coach Travis Green he was going to work his behind off and he did.

What a great lesson for young players. On Saturday, he scored to erase a 1-0 deficit and he hit the mark in the shootout. He finished with eight points (2-6) in his final seven games and had 10 points (46) in 14 since joining the club. OVERTIME: Former Canucks coach Alain Vigneault was fired Saturday by the New York Rangers, but don’t expect Todd McLellan to lose his job with the under-achieving Oilers.