They won! They finally won! It wasn’t a dominant performance, and the offense was lacking, but the Canucks did what they had to do defensively to earn a 2-1 win over the league-leading Capitals. If you wanna see some Hughes goals, you can here:



Maybe the Canucks can just play on Saturdays? Seems they have better chances then, since they’re somehow 8-2-2 on Saturdays.

Either way, the Canucks won in front of the home crowd last night. It was a game dominated by Hughes, not only scoring the two Canucks goal but generally just dragging the team into the fight. Without him and Lankinen it would have been a different outcome – though that could be said of most other games this season. After the game, the guys were all (rightfully) in praise of what Hughes is doing.

“He's probably one of the best players in the league right now,” Lankinen said. “Not just defencemen, but players in general, and there's a lot of good players in this league. So it's just really cool to witness what he's doing on a daily basis. You know, game after game, he's leading us on the ice and taking over games. No matter what's going on (with the team), he can still bring his A-game, which is really impressive.”

“It's just impressive when, you know, he knew we needed one tonight,” Garland said of Hughes. “And he went out there and delivered, and that's what the best players do. We had some conversations the last two days, just about, you know, it's a grinding part of the season, guys are tired, and it seems like everything is crammed. It's a challenge to your body. But just how dialled he is on that, it's inspiring for the rest of our group.”

Hughes has definitely taken it upon himself to lift his game – not only this season, but these last few months when things have come more off the tracks. He’s the captain, it’s his team, he wants to show the way forward.

“I feel responsible that we've had the turmoil that we've had,” Hughes told Sportsnet late Saturday. “And I want to, you know, be the reason that we can get out of this and be successful. It's embarrassing to lose some of the games we've lost the last couple weeks.”

It’d be nice if some of the other top players did some navel gazing and took on even half of Hughes’ determination and mindset.

“Some of the best I've played in my career,” Hughes said. “But just saying that, it's a really hard league, a humbling league. So for me, I'm just trying to really focus every single day. I try to keep my body healthy and try to be at my best, be a good leader and see where that goes.”

For the game, the team was happy with the result, but also happier with the process. While not dominant they did take it to the top team in the league, and kept pace with the playoff field with what Tocchet named a must-win game previously.

“Obviously the result (was important), but I thought, especially in the second period there, we really took it to them,” Hughes said. “We played with a lot of pace. We stuck to our staples. At times, we were simple. I mean, we grinded out a win against a really good team.”

“I thought we played a little faster. I thought our breakouts were better, like that was something we worked on yesterday,” Tocchet said. “You know, I thought, we had a little bit of intensity from everybody … That win hopefully gives us confidence.”

On top of Hughes and Lankinen, D-Petey made his NHL debut and didn’t look out of place. His ice time dwindled as the game went on and the Canucks were protecting their lead, but all in all a good start to his career. Before the game Tocc was asked about putting him in the lineup:

“He’s got some stuff, some attributes, some characteristics that we want back there,” Tocchet explained. “So why not? You shouldn’t be afraid to do those things.

“He’s played really well down there. Love his enthusiasm. We need that. He can skate. He’s physical. And he can move the puck.”

He flashed some signs of why the Canucks’ brass are high on him during the game, so hopefully he’s earned himself some more ice time going forward. At the minimum, he had a front row seat to the Hughes show last night:

“I was shocked,” D-Petey said of Hughes’ first one, with a wide smile. “It was an unbelievable goal.”

The Canucks kick off a three game road trip on Monday night. With all the rumors of JT Miller and Pettersson trades flying around, it may have been the last time this iteration of the Canucks played on home ice.

For now, comments and trade chatter:





Quotes from the Province, and Sportsnet.

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