Sedins deny struggles, look forward to Game 7

BOSTON --Daniel Sedin stood in the visiting team's locker room Monday night, his face straight, his mood calm.

"I liked the way we played," he said, following Vancouver's 5-2 loss in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. "We battled really hard. We've got to be excited for next game."

Not said was the fact that he has 20 points so far in the playoffs, but only four in the Final.

Not said was the fact that he and his brother, Henrik -- the NHL's No. 1 and No. 4 regular-season scorers -- have combined for just five points in this series against Boston.

Not said was the fact that in order for Vancouver to capture its first-ever Stanley Cup with a Game 7 win on Wednesday, the faces of the franchise will have to generate a lot more than they have in the first six games combined.

But the Sedins don't feel the pressure on their shoulders. They feel they're playing exactly the way they have played all season long -- they're just not getting the bounces lately.

"At least for me or for Henrik, the thing you've got to look at is you've got to create chances," Daniel said. "If you create enough chances, the goals are going to come. It's one thing if you're not creating them, then we can get frustrated. But right now we're working hard and getting chances."

A golden chance for Henrik came in the second minute of Game 6 when he was wide open at the edge of the faceoff circle facing an empty net. But he fanned on the shot, and the Bruins erupted for four first-period goals not long after that.

"[The twins] had some good looks," backup goalie Cory Schneider said. "Either Thomas makes a big save or we just can't buy a bounce. It's off a post, it's lying in the crease, it just goes around an open net. Sometimes you need a little puck luck and they're just not getting it. But tonight they showed signs of being themselves."

Henrik did score a power-play goal 22 seconds into the third period -- just Vancouver's second power-play goal on 29 attempts in the Final. Daniel had an assist.

That goal doesn't mask Vancouver's power-play futility in the Final or the stark contrast to what it was in the regular season -- tops in the League with a 24.3 percent success rate.

Daniel led the NHL with 18 regular season power-play goals.

The twins have been such a non-entity in this Final, television analyst Mike Milbury referred to them as "Thelma and Louise" in the Game 4 broadcast, referencing the 1991 film starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis.

That didn't sit well with the Sedins' teammates, who insist nothing is wrong with the twins' games.

"They've been playing well for us all playoff long," defenseman Kevin Bieksa said. "They took a lot of criticism, they're easy targets for the media. But the people who see them every day, the media in Vancouver and in Canada, respect them a great deal and they're two of the best players in the League. So anything disrespectful that's said to them is just ignorant."

The Sedins themselves aren't worried about any of that. They're just focused on Game 7, and know they're due for a big game.

"You've got to be lucky to be good," Daniel said. "And good to be lucky. So it goes both ways."

Added Henrik, disputing any talk of him and his brother struggling: "We lost the game. That's the only thing. Danny scored five goals in the first round against Chicago after six games and we still get criticized. That's not a problem. We already lost the game. I would have loved to score the goal if we were tied 1-1, but we were down 4-0. It didn't really matter."