VANCOUVER — Coming off a disastrous road trip and teetering towards another third-period collapse, Henrik and Daniel Sedin showed once again why they're the heart and soul of the Vancouver Canucks.
The superstar twins combined for nine points on Saturday night, including four after Chicago tied the game with less than nine minutes to go in regulation, as the Canucks defeated the Blackhawks 6-3.
"When you really need your leadership is when you're going through a tough time," said Vancouver head coach Willie Desjardins. "We needed it and they stepped up."
Daniel Sedin had three goals and an assist, while Henrik Sedin added a goal and four assists for the Canucks (8-7-6), who were coming off a dismal 1-4-2 road trip and picked up just their fifth win in the last 17 games.
"Halfway through that road trip I think we started to play a little bit better," said Daniel Sedin, who recorded the sixth hat trick of his career and first since 2011. "We didn't see any results, but we stuck with it and tonight we showed how good we can be if we play the right way."
Jannik Hansen chipped in with a goal and an assist while playing with the Sedins to round out the top line's 11-point night as Vancouver avoided losing for a sixth time when leading after two periods.
"That line responded for us all night," said Desjardins. "We haven't been on top of our game and you let another one go in the third and all of a sudden it doesn't look that great. Those guys stepped up and that was the big difference."
Ryan Miller made 26 saves as the Canucks ended a four-game slide, while Alexandre Burrows scored into an empty net late.
Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (11-8-2), while Ryan Garbutt and Artem Anisimov also scored. Corey Crawford stopped 14 shots in taking the loss.
"They had their way out there," said Chicago forward Patrick Kane. "It's disappointing. I thought we played pretty well for most of the game."
Down 3-2 through 40 minutes, the Blackhawks tied it up at 12:20 of the third when Anisimov swatted a loose puck home for his ninth of the season, with Kane picking up an assist to stretch his point streak to 16 games.
But the Canucks retook the lead with 5:25 left in regulation when Daniel Sedin beat Crawford off a pass from Henrik Sedin on the shortside for his ninth to make it 4-3 before tipping home another feed from his brother just 2:01 later.
Burrows then scored his fifth into an empty net with under a minute to go.
"Whenever you get down to .500 in the standings you never want to go below that line," said Henrik Sedin, who registered the first five-point game of his career. "It's easy to build on the positives when you win a game."
Tied 2-2 after the first, Vancouver went ahead at 7:22 of the second on the power play. Henrik Sedin stole the puck from Chicago defenceman Duncan Keith and fed Daniel Sedin, who beat Crawford with a quick shot.
Chicago was playing its third game in four nights, but opened the scoring on the power play at 6:17 of the opening period on the first shot of the game when Toews beat Miller upstairs for his seventh.
Vancouver got that one back on a 5-on-3 man advantage at 9:32 when Henrik Sedin gathered a cross-ice feed from Daniel Sedin and fired home for his sixth.
Hansen then gave the Canucks their first lead thanks to his sixth with 4:42 left in the period from the lip of the crease.
But the Blackhawks responded just 52 seconds later when Toews found Garbutt, who buried his first past Miller after the Vancouver goalie got caught up with one of his defenders.
"It didn't look great, but at least we won the game," said Henrik Sedin. "Sometimes it's easy to build on things and look at the positives when you get a win. We still have a ways to go. We're in the playoff hunt and we still haven't played our best, so that's a good sign."
The Canucks announced before that game that forward Brandon Sutter is out with an abdominal strain and will be re-evalulated in two weeks. ... Daniel Sedin's assist in the first period was the 900th point of his career. ... Vancouver has allowed at least one power-play goal in eight of its last nine games. ... The Canucks have scored on the man advantage in five straight. ... The Canucks host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
