Devils at Canucks
The Sedin twins have been the face of the Canucks for more than 15 years and have never looked better of late as Vancouver hosts the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. Daniel Sedin recorded his sixth career hat trick — and first in nearly four years — and combined with brother Henrik to record nine points in Vancouver's 6-3 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, and Daniel recorded his 900th career point when he assisted on Henrik's first-period goal.
"We just showed how good we can be when we play the right way,'' Daniel told reporters after he scored two of the Canucks' three goals in the final 5:25 that snapped a 3-3 tie and Vancouver's four-game losing streak. "This was a big win; the third period was huge." The Sedins combined for nine goals and 22 points in their last six games, but Vancouver is 2-3-1 during that span. New Jersey dropped the first two games on its Western Canada swing, including a 5-1 setback in Edmonton on Friday that created its first losing streak since starting the season 0-3-1. "We didn't play to our capabilities, and the result was what it was," Devils coach John Hynes told reporters. "We didn't really play well enough in any facet of the game to find a way to win."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, MSG (New Jersey), SNET Pacific (Vancouver), SNET Vancouver
ABOUT THE DEVILS (10-8-1): Mike Cammalleri (team bests of 12 assists and 18 points), who has 16 goals and 29 points in 36 games versus Vancouver, was pointless and a minus-2 on Friday after missing Thursday's practice because of the flu. Corey Schneider (9-5-1, 2.05 goals against average, .926), a big reason for New Jersey's stronger-than-expected start, gets the call in goal after Keith Kinkaid made his fourth start of the season Friday. The Devils boast the league's No. 3 power play (22.7 percent), which has produced a goal in four straight games (4-for-14), while the penalty-killing unit (11th, 83.3) is 28-for-30 over the last eight contests.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (8-7-6): Vancouver survived a scare Saturday when Jannik Hansen was hit in the side of the head by teammate Dan Hamhuis's slap shot from close range, but the right wing — skating on the Sedin line — returned to score his sixth goal of the season. Radim Vrbata, who has three goals in 19 games after scoring 31 last season, missed his second straight contest Saturday because of a groin injury and is expected to be a game-time decision Sunday. The Canucks were 3-for-4 on the power play Saturday and are 8-for-21 over their last five games after going 0-for-16 in the previous five contests, but the penalty-killing unit has yielded a goal in eight of the last nine games and has extinguished 21-of-31 opportunities during that span.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey is 7-2-1 in one-goal games while Vancouver is 2-5-6 with the losses all in overtime.
2. Henrik Sedin (goal, four assists Saturday) has 935 career points (217 goals) while Daniel has 903 (337 goals).
3. New Jersey won the season's first of two meetings 4-3 in overtime Nov. 8 on Kyle Palmieri's goal.