Henrik Sedin has gone five games without a point. 

I’m sure he’s not thrilled about it and my guess is neither are the Vancouver Canucks. After all, that’s not really the prescribed plan to stay in the playoff chase, with your captain and best play-maker going missing at crunch time.

That’s not to suggest he’s playing poorly. Henrik had arguably the Canucks’ best scoring chance in the first period last night in Denver as he broke in on right wing. He started a play that led to Daniel’s clear cut breakaway in the second period, couldn’t finish off a two-on-one with his brother in the third period and even had a look at the empty net when Patrick Roy pulled his goalie with a few minutes remaining in the game. A bounce here or there, Henrik hits the scoresheet and this is a non-story. 

But the facts are the facts and Henrik Sedin was held pointless for a fifth consecutive game. I point this out not to throw darts in his direction, but rather as a tribute to his consistency and reliability.

What you are witnessing is a rare occurrence. This five game skid marks just the third time in the past 10 regular seasons that Henrik Sedin has had a scoring slump reach five games. He went a dozen games without registering a point two years ago as he dealt with a rib injury that ultimately forced him to miss the Sochi Olympics. And late in the 2011-12 season, Henrik went eight games without a point. Otherwise, this is a guy who has been asked to deliver and he’s done just that. And in a day and age when putting up points is no easy feat, Henrik Sedin has demonstrated a remarkable ability over the years to keep his play at such a high level that he’s managed to play his way out of slumps even before they begin.

But this will be a good test for Henrik Sedin and the Canucks. The team’s stated goal remains to make the playoffs and for that to happen, Henrik is going to have to find a way to contribute sooner rather than later. The Canucks got past Colorado thanks to key contributions from the supporting cast last night, but they won’t win many games without the Sedins leading the charge.

Hobbled by a couple of injuries of over the past two months, Henrik has certainly seen his production drop. He doesn’t look like the same player who was cruising along at nearly a point a game clip through the team’s first 32 games this season. 

Since a pair of assists in Minnesota on December 15th, Henrik has just six points (all helpers) in his past 15 games. There is no longer talk of an 80 — or even 70 — point season. Given the time he’s missed, he’s now on pace for somewhere in the neighbourhood of 60 points which is still solid production.

Henrik’s recent struggles also highlight the danger of an NHL team banking on a 35-year-old to stay healthy enough to contribute on a nightly basis without much in the way of scoring support. The 82-game regular season is a grind and while it was fun to watch the Sedins pile up points in the first couple of months and keep the Canucks above the playoff bar, questions were certainly being asked about the long-term sustainability of their scoring rate. We’ve seen since January 1st that there has been a noticeable drop, and with it the Canucks have fallen in the standings.

Vancouver got a win last night and they’ll chase another tonight in Glendale. I don’t know if Henrik Sedin will pick up a point, but I certainly wouldn’t bet against him. History has shown his slumps never last long and this one – a whole five games – is nearing epic proportions. It just got its own blog post.