What a difference a Sedin makes! With Daniel Sedin making his long awaited return to the lineup since being knocked out of action by the Blackhawks Duncan Keith last month and provided the spark that the Vancouver Canucks offense had been missing, beating the Los Angeles Kings by a score of 3-1.

PHOTO CREDIT - VancouverCanucks.com

Vancouver - April 19, 2012 - What a difference a Sedin makes! With Daniel Sedin making his debut since being knocked out of the lineup by Blackhawks Duncan Keith last month, he provided the spark that the Canucks offense had been missing, and t propelled them to a 3-1 win in LA, staving off elimination. For the most part the Canucks have been stuck in second gear since this series started, and it looked like they were going to end their season in the same gear for the first twenty minutes of tonight’s game, especially after the Kings went up 1-0 midway in the first after a feeble checking attempt by Mason Raymond on Anze Kopitar allowed him to get a clean shot on Schneider. But the lead didn’t last long for the Kings.

As the Canucks continued to struggle in the first period, desperately trying to find their game, starting goalie Cory Schneider lived up to his nick-name by keeping the Canucks in the game by stopping 13 shots to keep the Kings at bay. As Schneider was performing miracles between the pipes fir the Canucks, another miracle happened at 4:07 of the second period which instantly gave the Canucks life again, and that was the resurgence of their power play as Alexander Edler beat Jonathan Quick with a wrist shot to tie the game at 1. The Canucks were alive!

The Canucks all of a sudden had a jump in their game, and a fire in their eyes as shift after shift they started to resemble the team who dominated during the regular season. After Kevin Bieksa scored at 8:36 of the second, it was the Canucks that looked like they were on the verge of toying with the Kings, and it was the home team who started to look like the frustrated club as the Canucks two top lines rolled with ease.

Henrik finally had his passing partner back, and it was a joy to watch the Sedins cycle the puck as if it were on a string. And as Daniel and Henrik performed their Sedinery, the rest of the team jumped on the wagon for the ride, as for the first time in three games the Canucks played like the top team in the NHL and took it to their opponents. Henrik Sedin also got out of his scoring slump by scoring on the power play early in the third period by skillfully taking a pass off the ice and beating Quick to put the Canucks up up 3-1.

With the Canucks finally giving their goalie some goal support, it was Schneider’s play that made it all possible as he was unbeatable except for the one goal, stopping 43 shots in total. Schneider also bailed out teammate Kevin Bieksa after he let the puck slip past him at the blueline while on the power play giving Kings Captain a breakaway and had no choice but to haul him down, resulting in a penalty shot.

With game five now scheduled for Sunday, two questions will be nagging Canuck Nation. 1:)Who gets the start in goal, Luongo or Schneider? I’m willing to bet Ginger gets the call even though it might risk upsetting Luongo. But Coach V has to go with the guy that gives the team the best chance to win, and in the last two games it was Schneider. And 2:) Will the Canucks be able to repeat tonight’s performance? Well, they better be able to, because every game is their season now, and I’m pretty sure they don’t want it to end without adding the Holy Grail of Hockey to their collection!

The Boys are back!