VANCOUVER-Henrik and Daniel Sedin have plenty of playoff experience and they’re not afraid to talk about it with their teammates.
Down three games to one heading into Thursday’s Game 5 at Rogers Arena, captain Henrik Sedin addressed the team, talking about some of the things he’s learned through 103 career playoff games.
“Henrik gave a pretty good talk this morning about how they’d been down 3-1 in series past and they’d won those and they’d been up 3-1 and they’d lost two,” said forward Nick Bonino, who scored the Canucks’ first goal of the game. “I think it kind of calmed the guys’ nerves a little bit. We knew anything could happen.”
READ MORE: Canucks beat Flames 2-1 in Game 5 to keep playoff hopes alive
After the game, Daniel Sedin said the Canucks managed to maintain their composure after giving up an early goal to David Jones.
“I didn’t sense any panic on the bench,” said Daniel. “I don’t know if that’s the sign of being a veteran team or if it’s the sign of a team that knows we can get back in games.”
The Sedins, who some have argued haven’t had enough ice time during the series, showed plenty of jump in Game 5, especially at the start of the third period when Daniel scored the game-winner.
The Canucks snapped a 1-1 tie 1:47 into the third after the Flames iced the puck. Vancouver put out its top line for the offensive zone faceoff and made Calgary pay as Daniel shovelled home a Dan Hamhuis rebound through Jonas Hiller’s pads for his second goal of the series.
WATCH: Sedin’s goal
“We’ve been trying different faceoff plays and tonight it paid off at the right time,” said Daniel. “It was nice to see it go in.”
The goal was Daniel’s sixth career playoff game-winner.
The Sedins didn’t have a perfect game. Henrik took a hooking penalty in the third period, but the Flames didn’t get a single shot on target against goaltender Ryan Miller during the man advantage.
“These are fun games to part to be a part of,” said Daniel. “It’s do or die and we played a solid 60 minutes. It was probably our best game of the series.”
-with files from Canadian Press
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