CHICAGO — In an otherwise empty Canuck dressing room late Monday night, Daniel and Henrik Sedin stood in one corner and tried to explain what had just happened.

In the end, perhaps Daniel came closest to putting it all into perspective. The better team won, he said. It was as simple as that.

The Hawks demonstrated considerable offensive skill and exposed the Canucks’ flaws as they clinched the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series in six games with wild 7-5 win at a boisterous United Center.

“The better team always wins a seven-game series,” Daniel said. “We can look and say we were unlucky in some games, but it’s not about luck. You get luck. They have three really skilled lines up front and in the end that won them the series.”

For a time, it looked like Daniel was going to give the Canucks a chance to win the series. His second of two goals put the Canucks ahead 5-4 with less than eight minutes left in the third period and it looked like the teams would be returning to Vancouver for Game 7 on Thursday night. But again, the Canucks could not hold a lead. That was one of the stories of this series.

“It’s easy,” Daniel said when asked why the Canucks had so much difficulty protecting leads. “It’s because they had three skilled lines and they come in waves. They come and they score. That’s the bottom line.”

There will be questions now about the future of the twins in Vancouver. They will be unrestricted free agents on July 1 if general manager Mike Gillis can’t or chooses not to sign them.

But all the Sedins could think about Monday night was the lost opportunity.

“You look at the team we had, we had a chance to go a long way and that’s the most disappointing thing,” Daniel said. “This series has been close and we came out on the losing end in a lot of games. Look at the fourth game in here. Two minutes left and they score. We had the lead at home a bunch of times and gave it up.”

“Chicago is too good of an offensive team,” Henrik added. “I don’t think we played our best in this series.”

TAKE THAT, WILLIE: Hawks’ winger Patrick Kane took a shot at Vancouver defenceman Willie Mitchell about his hat-trick. After Game 1, Mitchell had said he wasn’t impressed with Kane’s game, especially at even-strength.

“The hat-trick is also a great response to Mitchell’s comment that I can’t play five-on-five,” Kane said. “Nothing like a negative comment to get a player fired-up.”

All three of Kane’s goals, it should be noted, came at even strength.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Canuck defenceman Shane O’Brien’s second period goal was his first of the season and came after 39 regular-season shots and eight more in the playoffs.

QUOTABLE: “So much fun. The game was an emotional roller-coaster and definitely the most exciting game I have been a part of.” — Hawks winger Adam Burish, who scored Chicago’s fourth goal.

ICE CHIPS: The Hawks passed the one million mark in attendance for the first time in franchise history on Monday night.

bziemer@vancouversun.com