The Vancouver Canucks are picking up steam at just the right time, but the same certainly can’t be said for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Henrik Sedin had four assists while his brother, Daniel Sedin, scored his 25th goal and registered three assists in Vancouver’s 6-2 slaughtering of the Leafs.
Henrik also became the first player to reach the 50 assist mark in 2011-12, which is a feat that was only accomplished by nine guys last season, including both of the twins. However, Henrik is still eight points behind Evgeni Malkin in the Art Ross Trophy race, which was won by Henrik in 2009-10 and Daniel last season.
The Canucks are now 9-0-2 in their last 11 games and they are poised to coast to the Northwest Division title. Short of a monumental collapse, the only real question now for the Canucks is if they can manage to earn the first seed or if they’ll have to settle for second place in the Western Conference.
It’s a much different story in Toronto. The Leafs have now lost five of their last six contests and are clinging onto the eighth seed. The Leafs haven’t made the playoffs in the salary cap era and only the Florida Panthers, who are currently leading the Southeast Division, were in the midst of a longer postseason drought going into the 2011-12 campaign.