The Toronto Maple Leafs brought out the best in Alex Burrows, the Sedin twins, and the rest of the high-flying Vancouver Canucks.
Burrows and Daniel and Henrik Sedin combined for 10 points in the Canucks' 6-2 thrashing of the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Burrows, who thrives on playing the Maple Leafs because he developed a distinct dislike for them while growing up in Montreal and cheering for the Canadiens, scored two goals. Daniel Sedin had a goal and three assists, and brother Henrik notched four assists.
''I watched a lot of games as a kid against the Maple Leafs, always cheered for my Habs, so it's nice to beat them,'' said Burrows, who cut his nose when he ran into a referee.
Burrows has eight goals and seven assists in 10 career games against Toronto. The Sedins' outburst came after they both went three games without a point. The twins also struggled at times during December and January.
''We didn't play our best for, I think, a month, a month and a half, and that's something we had to change,'' Daniel Sedin said. ''We played better the last few games and hadn't gotten the results. But tonight we played the same way and got a few good ones.''
Canucks coach Alain Vigneault knew the superstar twins were due to break out.
''You knew in (the Sedins') case it was just a matter of time before they'd get on the score sheet, and tonight they had a real big game in a great atmosphere,'' Vigneault said.
It was Vancouver's 10th straight win over Toronto, covering a span of more than eight years.
Manny Malhotra, Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa also scored for the Canucks (37-15-6), who have won six of seven.
Dion Phaneuf and Nikolai Kulemin, with 19.2 seconds left in the game, had goals for the Maple Leafs (29-24-6), who have lost six of seven. Vancouver hasn't lost to Toronto since November 2003.
''We played a really good team with probably our battery down a little bit,'' Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. ''They really took advantage of us. Every little opening, they moved the puck really well, and we had our heads spinning at times in our own end.''
The Canucks led 2-0 after the first period in which they outshot the Maple Leafs 11-4.
''We talked about the way we wanted to execute our game plan, but for most of the night we didn't do what we talked about,'' Phaneuf said.
Burrows opened the scoring 7:49 in on a 2-on-1 break with Daniel Sedin against Phaneuf. Burrows gave a lead pass to Sedin, who delivered a flip pass over the Toronto captain's stick and past goalie James Reimer.
Malhotra gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead 1:27 later as he dived to tip in Max Lapierre's pass from the side boards. It was Malhotra's second goal and third point in 14 games.
Burrows put the Canucks ahead 3-0 at 3:18 of the second period when he took a pass from Henrik Sedin and wristed in a shot while left alone in the slot.
The one-sided win came after many close encounters for Vancouver. It was only the fifth time in 15 games the Canucks didn't play past regulation.
''It was nice to get a few goals and not play a game where you need to come back in the last few minutes,'' Henrik Sedin said.
Phaneuf got Toronto within 3-1 just under three minutes later when he one-timed Phil Kessel's cross-ice pass behind Roberto Luongo.
Moments later, Luongo made a diving blocker save on Joffrey Lupul to maintain Vancouver's two-goal advantage. Luongo finished with 24 saves.
Daniel Sedin put the Canucks ahead 4-1 midway through the second period when he scored on a pass from the corner boards by Henrik.
That chased Reimer and brought Jonas Gustavsson in the net. Reimer allowed four goals on 18 shots.
Gustavsson let in the first shot he faced when Salo one-timed Daniel Sedin's shot through a screen during a power play.
Henrik Sedin earned his fourth assist of the game at 9:09 of the third period when Jannik Hansen redirected his pass to Bieksa.
Wilson refused to blame his goalies or his top forward unit of Kessel, Lupul and Tyler Bozak.
''The Kessel line, they were dangerous even though they ended up being minus on the night,'' Wilson said. ''They created a lot of openings. After two periods, we had three forwards with a shot on goal. It just wasn't good enough.''
NOTES: Canucks D Keith Ballard missed his fifth straight game because of a neck injury. He is also being evaluated for a possible concussion. ... Leafs D Luke Schenn returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch Wednesday at Edmonton and assisted on Kulemin's goal. D Mike Komisarek was scratched after playing in Edmonton and Calgary. ... Injured Toronto D Carl Gunnarsson (ankle) has resumed skating on his own.
