Slumping Canucks routed 4-1 by Habs
How bad is it? Henrik hasn’t been this bad since he was a rookie
There was a time recently the Sedins were the very definition of consistency.
They didn’t record many three- or four-point nights, but they both usually chipped in with a goal or two.
Well, Daniel Sedin is now 2-1-3 over his last 10 games.
Henrik is 0-2-2 over that same span and hasn’t collected a point in eight games, a futility streak he hasn’t experienced since he went 11 games without a point as a rookie in 2000-2001.
And back then he got no first-unit power play time and was limited to about 12 or 13 minutes a game, not the 19 or 20 he gets now, including first-unit power play time.
“And way back then I was a crappy player,” the Canucks captain said, at least maintaining his sense of humour of not his points production. “I should get out of this.” Even Alain Vigneault seems to have reached the end of his patience with his star twins.
He’s defended them ad nauseum of late, but on Saturday night he just threw up his hands when asked why he split the brothers up in the third period.
“Any time your top players are not your best players, your top performers, obviously there’s a level of concern,” Vigneault said. “I’m not sure if we’re tired physically or mentally, but if that’s the case, what we can do is eliminate that excuse?”
So the coach is giving the players a two-day break instead of just the usual Sunday off. They’ll return to practice on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s game against Phoenix at Rogers Arena.
Henrik was so frustrated at not only being held off the scoresheet again, but at being nailed by P.K. Subban and others, that he had four hits, three of them in the first period when the Canucks were outshooting the Canadiens 12-1 at one point and out-chancing them 8-1, but failing to put anything past Carey Price.
But after Ryan Kesler made it 1-0 at 11:58 of the second period, the Canucks really only had two more quality scoring chances — according to Vigneault, the Canadiens outchanced the Canucks 12-2 in the third period.
At no time did that lack of generating chances stand out like when the Sedins were on the ice.
We’ve become so used to their tickity no-look passes that make defenders dizzy that we feel robbed when they can’t seem to complete a simple straight pass.
A lot of times when players are in a rut, they start trying to do too much.
But Henrik thinks he and his brother are doing too little, going wide and taking bad-angle shots instead of holding on to pucks and making plays when plays present themselves to be made.
“We have 13 games left,” he said. “It’s a matter of time, getting out of this, and when we do, it’s going to be good.”
The last two seasons the twins each collected at least one point on average about 55 games a season (taking into account Daniel’s broken foot two seasons ago). This season they might not hit 40 games.
They don’t need to be reminded by reporters, each knows what’s expected and both know they’re coming up far short.
“When we’re not producing as we should, with the minutes we get, it’s tough to win games,” Daniel said.
“That’s the bottom line.”