There are three things which the Canucks should be looking at, all of which are of varying importance and had an impact on tonight’s loss.

The first, clearly, obviously, is the penalty kill. Allowing three straight goals on essentially the same plays is problematic, regardless of this the preseason, regular season or postseason. More worrying is the fact that the bulk of these goals came with the Canucks top penalty killing unit out on the ice. People can start pining for Ryan Johnson all they want, but the problems transcend any sort of contribution he could be making on the penalty kill. Kesler and Burrows are supposedly the Canucks best guys on the penalty kill and they were on the ice for 2 goals against, Burrows was on for 3.

I mostly wanted to post this picture because Jordan Staal’s face is hilarious. Anyway…

Well, not a whole lot going on this week with the Canucks. I mean it was pretty uneventful for the most part, nothing really huge to be writing about, so perhaps I should just skip the Week That Was.

Alright, I’m a horrible liar. Let’s get into everything that was going on with the Canucks this week.

So justice was meted out by Colin Campbell and the NHL tonight regarding Alex Burrows’ comments pertaining to the officiating in Monday night’s loss to the Nashville Predators. Burrows, for speaking his mind and accusing referee Stephane Auger of having a grudge against him, was fined $2,500 for doing so. According to Darren Dreger and Greg Wyshynski over at Puck Daddy, Auger is receiving no punishment and the matter is closed.

Alex Burrows continues to have a big month of January. There were his 2 goals scored tonight, which ended a 1 game scoring drought for the feisty forward.

There was also his post-game comments coming off of tonight’s loss to the Predators. Burrows, whose name will be all over TSN, Sportsnet and everywhere else first thing tomorrow, accused official Stephane Auger of having a vendetta against him, which may have explained the chintzy calls that were going on in tonight’s game.

This game had more twists and turns than riding shotgun with Chris Chelios after 2 for 1 night at the local watering hole. I don’t even know where to begin, as this game had EVERYTHING.

The Canucks were looking to extend their hot start post-Christmas with a win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The Yotes were looking to earn a franchise best 10 straight victories at home. Whatever happened tonight, someone was going to be going home disappointed. Unfortunately, it was some bad decision making in the second period that resulted in the Canucks going to overtime and eventually losing in the shootout to the Desert Dogs.

The Sedins have been enjoying immense success as of late. There’s been much talk of Henrik being right at the very top of the NHL’s scoring elite, being outpaced only by Joe Thornton, while brother Daniel has been making a lot of noise for himself: he recently picked up his third career hat trick, was named 2nd star of the week by the NHL and player of the day December 11th.

Which isn’t to say that linemate Alex Burrows hasn’t been doing well for himself, either. Although cooling down a bit when Daniel was out with an injury, Burrows has 10 points (6g, 4a) in his last 10 games and has been an absolute beast on the penalty kill.

With all that said, there’s been little talk about the Sedins linemate, as the Canucks top line is looking like a top line. Before Burrows was given the opportunity by Alain Vigneault last season, the constant issue for the Canucks was finding someone to fill in that role. Over the years, there have been numerous players who were pegged to be the ‘Third Sedin’, so here’s a look at some of the more notable Third Sedins of the past, as well as a look at one potential future Third Sedin.

Not a whole lot to say about tonight’s affair. The Canucks played a tight, conservative game against the red hot Chicago Blackhawks, a team that has been on a 6 game winning streak prior to coming into tonight’s affair. It looked as though coach Alain Vigenault was trying to prey on the fact that the Hawks had played 3 games in 4 nights and was trying to completely exhaust them and capitalize on any mistakes they might’ve made.

Unfortunately, that’s not how things turned out, as a single gaffe ended up costing the Canucks. That said, I was quite happy with the team’s performance, considering that Chicago had outscored their opponents by a ratio of 4:1 and they were quite effective at shutting down Chicago’s offense. Both goaltenders looked great, particularly Niemi, who was a total brick wall in the third period, completely denying the Canucks on a number of great chances. Were I to get a present for the Canucks for Christmas, it’d probably be a Caps Lock key, as the inability to capitalize is what ultimately cost us the game.