Burrows buries Bruins by showing his Sedin-like skills

By Steve Keating

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Dark-haired and abrasive, Alex Burrows will never be mistaken for Daniel or Henrik Sedin but the Swedish twins insist there are many similarities between them and their Vancouver Canucks line mate.

Burrows certainly attempted his best imitation of the high-scoring Swedes on Saturday, pumping in two goals and assisting on another as Vancouver edged the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime to grab a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals.

But while Daniel and Henrik would earn consideration for the Lady Byng trophy as the NHL's most sportsmanlike players, Burrows' name would more likely be found on the most disliked list.

Certainly Bruins Patrice Bergeron would give Burrows his vote for most despised after accusing the Canucks forward of biting his finger in game one of the series on Wednesday.

The NHL reviewed the incident and Burrows escaped punishment but his reputation as an agitator remains intact.

"I think all three of us are pretty similar," pleaded Daniel Sedin. "I think we had to work really hard to get to where we are.

"Obviously when we first played with him a couple years back, we realized right away he was a good complement to us.

"He works hard, fore-check, brings pucks to us. Like he showed today, he can score some big goals."

Playing alongside Daniel and Henrik, who have each won a league scoring crown, has been like winning the lottery for Burrows, his value and scoring totals on the rise since being partnered with the Sedin twins.

The Canucks signed the undrafted Burrows as a free agent in 2005 and in his first three seasons in Vancouver he managed just 22 goals. In his last three campaigns, much of that time working with the twins, he has 89.

"He's overall one of our go-to guys. Again tonight he came up big in key moments."

Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien was not as impressed but refused to dwell on what the outcome might have been if the NHL review had of deemed Wednesday's biting controversy differently.

"That (loss) has nothing to do with that," said Julien. "I never thought about that that way. They made a decision. We moved on.

"For us, if we start using that as an excuse (for losing), we're a lame team."

(Editing by Patrick Johnston)