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Sedin: ‘I would love to play against us right now’

Bruins Canucks Hockey

Boston Bruins center Zac Rinaldo (36) celebrates a goal by teammate Tyler Randell, not shown, past Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom, obscured, during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP)

AP

The Vancouver Canucks are reeling. They’ve lost five straight and are 3-9-4 since starting 6-2-4. Not surprisingly, the fans are beginning to get flashbacks to 2013-14.

In the moments after Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Boston -- arguably the Canucks’ worst defeat of the season -- captain Henrik Sedin offered a scathing assessment of his team’s recent play.

“I would love to play against us right now,” he said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Sedin did not say that it was an effort issue; he insisted that the Canucks were working hard. His point was that they needed to work smarter.

“Make the easy play. Get it deep,” he said. “We can’t keep turning pucks over like we are.”

Sedin was asked if it felt like two years ago, when the Canucks started 23-11-6 under coach John Tortorella before collapsing and missing the playoffs.

“I don’t think it’s the same feeling. It’s two totally different teams,” he said. “A few years back, we ran into a lot of injury problems. We have injuries now, too, but as a team we’re built differently. We have a lot of young guys coming up.

“We’ve got to realize, maybe it’s not about winning tomorrow’s game. Maybe it’s about getting back on track and focusing on playing the right way.”

Translation: Don’t worry about the results; you can’t force those. It’s all about the process.

“We keep talking about, ‘We gotta get a win, we gotta get a win,’” he said. “But if you keep thinking that way in your head, as a scorer or an offensive guy when you haven’t produced in a while, it puts too much pressure on you.”

Now, it should be noted that Canucks coach Willie Desjardins had called the Boston game a “must” for his team.

Though Desjardins didn’t go so far as to call it a “must win,” Sedin clearly feels that the Canucks have been going about things the wrong way.

Vancouver hosts Buffalo tonight and the Rangers Wednesday. After that, it’s a six-game road trip, followed by the Christmas break.

Amazingly, the Canucks are just one point out of a playoff spot in the woeful Pacific Division.