The Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks delivered strong results and plenty of positive talking points on their recently concluded five-game road trip.
* With a 4-1 record, Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»earned eight out of a possible 10 points in the standings with wins in Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit and Minnesota.
* Tough guy Derek Dorsett emerged as a scoring star with four goals and five points in three games. Back in the lineup after serious spinal surgery last season, he currently leads the Canucks with five goals.
* New goaltender Anders Nilsson earned two shutouts in three starts and boasts an impressive .949 save percentage.
* The Sedin twins came to life playing on a new line with B.C.'s Jake Virtanen.
New coach Travis Green has reduced Daniel and Henrik Sedin’s ice time this season as the 37-year-olds move into the twilight of their NHL careers, but their legacy is already secure as two of the greatest players ever to wear Canucks colours.
Last January, Henrik became just the 85th player in NHL history – and the first ever from the Canucks – to earn 1,000 career points. It’s an achievement he currently shares with only five other active players: Jaromir Jagr, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
His brother is next in line to join that group. Daniel started this season with 986 career points and has picked up four points in nine games so far, leaving him with 10 to go.
At his scoring peak, Daniel earned the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring leader with 104 points during the 2010-11 season. His production since then has seen peaks and valleys, but overall it has been in decline. Last season was a definite low – Daniel recorded just 44 points in 82 games.
But Green’s move to line up Virtanen with the twins looks like it could boost production. In his fist game skating with Daniel and Henrik in Buffalo last Friday, 21-year-old Virtanen started the play that led to Daniel’s second goal of the year with a sharp pass at the blue line to Henrik, who set up his brother like he has done so many times before.
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Shortly after - after a lengthy review, Daniel Sedin scores to put 3-2
— Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech)
The goal stood up as the 82nd game winner of Daniel’s career–far and away the best in Canucks franchise history. Second place belongs to Markus Naslund, with 49 game-winning goals.
In Detroit last Sunday, the tables were turned when it was Daniel who set up Virtanen for his first tally of the season.
On Tuesday in Minnesota, Virtanen’s attempt to feed the twins at the net ended up bouncing right back to him. His third point in as many games was logged as being unassisted and was the only goal of the game.
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Virtanen goal
— steph (@myregularface)
Jake Virtanen was born in New Westminster and grew up in Abbotsford. He was three years old when the twins were drafted in 1999 and has followed the arc of their careers as he pursued his own hockey dream.
In 2014, Virtanen was drafted sixth overall by his hometown team. So far, his path to NHL success has been bumpy, never more so than last season, when he was sent down to the AHL in early November.
Virtanen managed just 19 points in 65 games with the Utica Comets, but he also forged a relationship with then-Comets coach Travis Green that is now paying dividends at the NHL level.
Green helped Virtanen re-craft his physique, his work ethic and his attitude and now he’s reaping the rewards, riding shotgun with his childhood idols while soaking up their advice and expertise.
For 15 years, the twins have helped elevate the games of their linemates. It started with the “Mattress Line” and Jason King, who is now back in the organization as an assistant coach in Utica. Then we saw Anson Carter, Taylor Pyatt and, more recently, Alex Burrows and Jannik Hansen. Now it looks like it could be Virtanen’s turn.
This time, the boost looks like it will go both ways. Though the twins’ average ice time so far this season has dropped by about four minutes a game compared to last season and Virtanen has been Green’s least-used forward so far, the strategic usage seems to be paying off for all three players.
Even on the road, when Green hasn’t had control of the last change, he has been able to get the line into favourable matchup situations. Those have allowed the trio to create chances nearly every time they step on the ice, all while keeping the twins fresher thanks to more selective usage.
With this strategy in place, how long will it take for Daniel to get the 10 points he needs to reach 1,000?
In the prime of their careers, the Sedins were known for scoring in bunches, but we haven’t seen that for a while. If they continue to be successful as they get more comfortable with Virtanen, Daniel should reach that milestone sometime before the end of November.
The countdown begins with the five-game homestand that kicks off Thursday against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
Upcoming games at Rogers Arena (all 7 p.m.)
Thursday, Oct. 26: Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks vs. Washington Capitals
Monday, Oct. 30: Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks vs. Dallas Stars
Wednesday, Nov. 1: Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks vs. New Jersey Devils
Saturday, Nov. 4: Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Monday, Nov. 6: Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Canucks vs. Detroit Red Wings
Follow Carol Schram on TwitterĚý@pool88.
