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To hear Sven Baertschi tell it, Alex Burrows is 35 going on 26.

“He looks 10 years younger,” Baertschi said.

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Funny, because Baertschi looks a few years older these days.

Together they are the improbable pair of wingers who have become the engines driving Bo Horvat’s line.

One made it living out the blue-collar Canadian dream. Oozing with intangibles, Burrows’ road here was like a donkey pulling a cart filled with bottled sand, one with a highly underrated understanding of hockey.

Baertschi, on the other side, was blessed with gifts that come with labels like “skill” and “creativity,” the kind of gifts you need if you’re going to be a top-15 draft pick.

At certain points, both of their careers have been left for dead. To some, maybe even earlier this season.

Baertschi seemed to be suffering symptoms of a sophomore slump. Burrows’ condition was considered more severe, and there were those quietly wondering if all the miles he had gutted out churning up and down sheets of ice had caught up to him.