It's not like the Vancouver Canucks aren't aware of the style which best suits their personnel because they've played that way, more or less, for the last two seasons.

“Absolutely,” said Henrik Sedin shortly after the Orcans 4-3 shootout loss to St. Louis on Sunday night. “Roll four lines. Play with speed. You're on for 30 seconds and you get off. We've won a lot of games playing that way the last two years.”

That, at least, is the simple part. The more vexing aspect for these Canucks is locating that game, hitting the save button and hard-wiring it into their collective memory banks. The two-time Presidents Trophy winners know, theoretically at least, they should be playing an uptempo game with all four lines and applying sustained pressure with their speed and skill. But, currently, there's a disconnect between the knowing and the doing which explains, in part, their uneven performances over their last two games.

The Canucks are now 0-1-1 since Ryan Kesler reappeared in their midst and the faithful are still waiting to see the team that looks so formidable on paper. The Canucks now have a second line centered by one of the NHL's premier players. They have a first line built around the Sedins, a third line which is stupid-fast and a defensive corps which should be able to drive things from the back end.

But thus far the Canucks have looked like a teenager who's been put behind the wheel of a Maserati. They have all this horse power. They just don't know how to use it. The result is a potentially powerful machine which lurches from point to point, never knowing when to step on the gas, never knowing when to get off the brake.

“I don't think we've played that game for a full 60 minutes yet,” said Kesler. “We got away from it in the second period and in the third we found it again. If we play fast through the neutral zone and make the right plays we'll be fine.”

That much was apparent against the Blues. This was basically a three-act play in which the Canucks started in promising fashion, took half the game off, then dominated the final 18 minutes and overtime through some combination of an Aaron Volpatti fight and their own initiative.

That, at least, is the macro-view of this game. As for the micro, the Canucks opened a 1-0 lead on a pretty Kesler power-play goal, then went comatose, directing just six shots on Blues' goalie Jake Allen from the mid-point of the first period to Volpatti's fight with Ryan Reaves early in the third.

OK, the Blues had a lot to do with that and Ken Hitchcock's team is a nasty piece of business. But over the final 18 minutes of the third and overtime, the Canucks directed 19 shots at Allen and were buzzing for the first time in a while. They also got the benefit of the officiating on this night – Mason Raymond's game-tying goal came on the power play, they had an extended five-on-three midway through the third. But there was also life to their game and, just as importanly, life in The Rog.

“Absolutely,” Keith Ballard answered when asked if Volpatti gave his team a lift. “Reaves is a big man. All the credit in the world to Patty for stepping up.”

Now let's see if this lasts for more than one period. The Canucks still look to be a team uncertain of what they are. Their six-game winning streak was built largely on their goaltending and it should be noted in the last two outings – the 4-3 loss to Dallas on Friday night and Sunday night's shootout loss – their goalkeeping was just average.

This issue will also be magnified this week when they hit the road for, in order: Chicago, Dallas, Nashville and Detroit. If you're a keen student of the game, you'll notice there isn't one of those friendlies from the Northwest on that schedule which means the Canucks aren't going to deliver results with mediocrity.

“There are two teams on the ice,” Henrik said of Sunday's effort. “It took us some time to get back to making the right plays but that's the way we have to play.”

Great. Then try it again on Tuesday night in Chicago.

ewilles@theprovince.com

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