Daniel Sedin’s first career point was a en route to a come-from-behind victory. On October 8th, 2000, the Canucks were down 4-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning heading into the third period, but after Mattias Ohlund drew the Canucks within one, it was Daniel that tied the game.
The goal came, oddly enough, against Dan Cloutier. Four months later, the two would become teammates when the Canucks traded Adrian Aucoin and a second round pick to the Lightning for Cloutier.
And now, over 17 years later, . Once again, it was a game-tying goal en route to a come-from-behind victory. The Canucks were down 3-2 to the Nashville Predators heading into the third period, but Daniel came through to tie the game.
It seems fitting for there to be a little bit of symmetry in Daniel’s first and 1000th points. Fittingly, there was similar symmetry with Henrik’s 1000th point, as his was also a game-tying goal in a comeback win.
What immortal eye could ? Mine, I guess, when I watched this game.
- Daniel has always been the second Sedin: second-born, second to win the Art Ross Trophy, and now second to 1000 points. Henrik got the captaincy, while Daniel was made an alternate. Henrik won the Hart Trophy, Daniel won the Ted Lindsay Award. The one time he got in front of Henrik, he still got picked second: the 1999 entry draft. But Daniel is definitely not second-best and I anticipate the day when both their numbers are lifted into the rafters simultaneously. Perhaps Daniel will pay someone off for his number to get lifted slightly faster.
- This game didn’t rank on my , but the timing works out pretty well regardless. Though it wasn’t at home, the Canucks play at home on Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada against the Leafs. That gives the Canucks plenty of opportunity to honour Daniel in front of a national audience and ensure he gets the recognition he deserves.
- Though it ended well, this game didn’t get off to a great start. Like a woman with a long morning commute who loves pumps, the Canucks were on their heels early, but Anders Nilsson was up to the task like the task was 6’6” or below. Nilsson stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first period; he also stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third period. It was just that pesky second period that threw everything off like a broken heel.
- The Canucks were looking to win for Derek Dorsett after hearing the devastating news that . Chris Tanev even took a penalty as a tribute to the time Dorsett led the NHL in penalty minutes. At least, I assume it was a tribute, as there’s no other logical explanation for Tanev taking a minor penalty.
- What was going through Michael Del Zotto’s head as Craig Smith beat him to the puck and cut to the net to open the scoring? Del Zotto stopped skating and simply watched the play unfold in front of him. Perhaps he thought that Ben Hutton would cut across to take Smith, and he could have, but Hutton was worried about the pass out front, so stayed central. But even if Del Zotto thought Hutton would take him, he still could have kept his feet moving and pressured Smith from behind.
- Like a thirsty dude on Tinder, Brock Boeser replied immediately, tying the game 1-1 just 12 seconds later. It was a gorgeous goal, as Boeser pulled the puck to the middle, evaded Roman Josi’s stick-check, then shot the puck through Josi’s legs into the top corner of the net. It’s the type of goal that the tautologous among us are likely to call a “goalscorer’s goal.”
- Some were quick to blame Bo Horvat on the Predators’ second goal, as his penalty killing has been criticized, but I’m not sure there is much he could have done. As much as it looked like he was in no man’s land, he was actually in the shooting lane of the defenceman at the point, which was the most likely place for the puck to go from the puck battle along the boards. When the Predators moved the puck to Filip Forsberg at the right faceoff circle instead, it was Edler’s responsibility to get to him, and he did, but Forsberg put the puck off the crossbar and in. I can’t blame the penalty kill for a perfect shot.
- Anders Nilsson had a shaky moment or two in this game, but his save on Craig Smith midway through the second period was absolutely stunning. Nilsson went full splits to stretch his glove back into the middle of the net after some excellent puck movement by the Predators on the power play. Smith had the entire net to shoot at until suddenly Nilsson’s glove eclipsed the net, and Smith foolishly looked at it without those special eclipse glasses, leaving Smith with permanent retina damage. It was that good a save.
- Loui Eriksson tied the game, tapping in a rebound from a Daniel Sedin slap shot, but my favourite part of the goal is that Eriksson took a second swipe at the puck after putting it in, but since his momentum took him behind the goal, he ended up just smacking the side of the net. His stick hit literally a foot-and-a-half behind the post. It was a vestigial scoring attempt.
- There were a lot of probablies on the third Predators goal. The Canucks probably should have gotten the puck out of the zone earlier in the shift. Nilsson probably should have covered up the puck sooner. Hutton probably should have tied up Nick Bonino along the boards. Bonino probably shouldn’t have been able to score from on his knees behind the goal line. But probably doesn’t take the garbage out and kill the spiders in the bathroom. Probably just isn’t reliable.
- The Canucks were incredibly lucky to not go down by two goals early in the third period. The Predators hit two posts in short succession, then Nilsson robbed Filip Forsberg after a Henrik Sedin turnover turned into a 3-on-1 down low. Nilsson got a piece with his pad, then brought his legs together like they were to keep the puck from crossing the line.
- Daniel got the game-tying goal for his 1000th point, but Boeser deserves a lot of the credit. The Predators must have heard tales of his shot, because they clearly shaded towards his side of the ice on the Canucks’ power play. Boeser used that to his advantage, suckering in two penalty killers, then feeding Daniel in the slot. Viktor Arvidsson lunged back to try to block the shot, but only succeeded in deflecting it between Rinne’s legs.
- Nikolay Goldobin had a stellar season debut playing alongside Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. Goldobin set up the game-winner after Hutton spring him and Boeser on a 2-on-1. Goldobin drew the defender out wide, then thread the needle to Boeser, who deked hard to the backhand, completely fooling Rinne, then came back to the forehand and lifted the puck over Rinne’s pad. It was a gorgeous goal, but also frustrating, because Goldobin’s name doesn’t start with a “B” so now we have to start from scratch with all our line nicknames.
- It seemed fitting that the Sedins and Eriksson capped off the game with the Sedinest play of all time: three passes after entering the offensive zone with an empty net. Eriksson passed it to Henrik as he gained the zone. Henrik could have shot, but instead dropped it back to Daniel, who also could have shot, but he slid it over to Eriksson, who wept, for there were ...er, players to pass to. He had no choice but to shoot.
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As , Loui Eriksson now has 10 points in 10 games since Anders Nilsson and his wife named their newborn son “Loui.” So, Nilsson just needs to have a bunch more kids and name them all after Canucks and a Stanley Cup is all but assured.
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