VANCOUVER — The limp was significant and symbolic.

When Chris Higgins had some difficulty walking into the Vancouver International Airport on Sunday morning after blocking a Kevin Klein point shot with his left foot the previous night during a 4-3 setback, it spoke of the sacrifice needed for post-season success. The Canucks winger plans to play Monday in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinal against the Nashville Predators.

If his teammates play as well as they can — including Henrik and Daniel Sedin erasing their minus-7 playoff rankings and Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler not coughing up turnovers — the Canucks could end the second-guessing by closing out the series instead of heading home and facing another Game 7 on Wednesday.

“I think everyone is on board,” said Higgins. “We’re a pretty focused group and we’ll play a tighter game.”

That includes doing as much in the defensive zone as in the offensive zone. Maxim Lapierre saved a sure Sergei Kostitsyn first-period goal Saturday when he dove across the slot to get a piece of the shot with goaltender Roberto Luongo out of position following a sequence in which Edler and Christian Ehrhoff couldn’t clear the puck.

“That’s what makes playoff hockey so much fun, those little plays that mean so much more and that you wouldn’t even give a second glance to during the regular season,” Higgins said of the Lapierre effort, knowing that his former Montreal Canadiens teammate leads the team in playoff hits with 45. “When you look at it in the playoffs, it means a lot.”

Inspiration also came Sunday with one glance at Ryan Kesler.

Looking like he came out on the wrong end of a barroom brawl, the Canucks centre was sporting a swollen and stitched up chin after absorbing a deflected puck early in the third period Saturday. He also suffered a chipped tooth, yet returned to score his second goal to narrow the deficit to one with 3:46 remaining.

Kesler was tied for the playoff scoring lead after a dozen games with 13 points and leads in determination. He shrugged off any indication that soreness will affect his game. He had four shots, six hits and won 21 of 26 faceoffs in Game 5.

“No, I’m good,” he said. “Obviously, this (Game 6) wasn’t in our plan, but all year we’ve done a good job at focusing on the game at hand. We did a good job of that (Saturday) and we’re not worrying about how frustrating it is. We’ve got to play it and we’ve got to win. Guys care a lot in that room and we hold ourselves to high expectations and that’s a sign of a mature group. We don’t feel pressure and we see Game 6 as a chance to end somebody’s season.

"We just have to make sure that one mistake doesn’t turn into two."

Head coach Alain Vigneault took issue with the goals against in Game 5 but not the Sedins. Asked if he’s concerned about a minus-4 effort by Daniel and a minus-3 outing by Henrik on Saturday, he came to their defence. It could be more about creating a diversion because if the Predators are to be eliminated, the Sedins can’t go pointless again.

“Those are unfair stats,” Vigneault said of the plus-minus. "They couldn’t do anything about (Alex) Edler putting the puck into our net. They couldn’t do anything on the (Mikael) Samuelsson turnover and they couldn’t do anything on the other two turnovers. Sometimes, that’s an unfair stat. They’re working extremely well and hard and I’m supporting them 100 per cent. The points are going to come."

Daniel has nine points in a dozen games and Henrik eight, but the winger is bothered by the plus-minus wart.

"Absolutely," Daniel said. "That’s always been something we’ve been focusing on and (Saturday) was one of those games and we had one against Chicago, too. We’ve got to bounce back. They’re going to win some games because that’s how they play — they hang in there.

"We can’t get frustrated. We know it’s going to be a tight game tomorrow, too."

Henrik wasn’t buying speculation that he is nursing a leg injury and that the rigours of what could be another long series is getting to the Canucks captain, who has gone pointless in four or five series games.

"That’s playoffs. It should be taxing. It’s not a problem," he said. "This is what we worked for all year. If it takes seven games, that’s fine with us."

Meanwhile, Mikael Samuelsson aggravated an existing leg injury Saturday when he got tangled up with Nick Spaling in the first period. Vigneault isn’t sure who will take the winger’s place on the fourth line but Victor Oreskovich is an option after being a healthy scratch the last three games.

“We’ll see what happens, but I’m pretty excited about bringing some speed and energy and get it on the forecheck,” said Oreskovich. “They’ve got some defencemen who are playing big minutes (Ryan Suter, Shea Weber), so I’m going to try and wear them down every time I’m out there.”

Vancouver Province

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