Quinn Hughes’ 2 Goals Lead Canucks to 2-1 Victory Over Capitals – The Hockey Writers Vancouver Canucks Latest News, Analysis & More

After another disappointing loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, the Vancouver Canucks welcomed the league-leading Washington Capitals to Rogers Arena for a Hockey Night in Canada tilt. The Capitals were coming off a 3-0 shutout of the Seattle Kraken and hadn’t lost in regulation in 12 games, so the betting odds were largely on the road team’s side going into this one. But, there’s a reason they play the games, as the Canucks ended up beating the odds and walked away with a tight 2-1 victory. Led again by their captain Quinn Hughes, his two goals were all they needed to dispatch the Capitals and give the Presidents’ Trophy frontrunners only their 11th regulation loss of the season. Here’s your game recap.

Game Recap

The Capitals came out of the gates hot in the first period jumping out to an early 4-0 lead on the shot clock, but Kevin Lankinen stood tall in the Canucks net keeping it scoreless. The Canucks eventually got on the board first at 12:23, with the usual suspect of Quinn Hughes adding to his point total with his 13th goal and 53rd point of the season. After some great work by Nils Hoglander along the boards, protecting the puck against Trevor van Riemsdyk, he fed Hughes at the blue line who then cut down to the net and backhanded it past Charlie Lindgren. The Capitals had a couple chances after that to tie the game, but Lankinen once again shut the door to keep his team ahead going into the second period.

Backhand shot right on target. pic.twitter.com/AILuIh9nyj

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 26, 2025

Similar to the Capitals in the first period, the Canucks controlled play to start the second. They almost increased their lead to two early on, but the post foiled J.T. Miller as he deked around Lindgren after a set play slapper off the end boards. The Canucks did end up getting the 2-0 lead a minute later though when Hughes walked along the blue line and sent a seeing-eye wrist shot through traffic to the top corner of the net for his 15th of the season. With it, he tied the Columbus Blue Jackets Zach Werenski at the top of the leaderboard among defencemen, notching his 54th point. The rest of the period was largely controlled by the Canucks as they edged the Capitals in high-danger scoring chances 6-3, despite being outshot 11-8.

It looked like it was going to be straight time in the final frame as the Canucks and Capitals kept the whistles to a minimum until Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his 10th of the season at the 12:31 mark. After that, it was all Capitals as they tried for the equalizer in the final 7:29 of regulation. However, Lankinen shut the door the rest of the way and the Canucks sent their fans home happy with the 2-1 victory, their third straight Hockey Night in Canada match in the win column.

Goalie Matchup

Lankinen was very sold in his return to the Canucks’ crease stopping 32 of 33 shots for a .970 save percentage. With the win, he improved his record to 17-8-6.
Lindgren was good as well, only giving up two goals on 25 shots for a .920 SV%. He fell to 11-9-2.

What’s Next For the Canucks & Capitals?

The Canucks will head back onto the road for a three-game stint through the Central Division starting on Monday against the St. Louis Blues. The Capitals, meanwhile, will head to Calgary to face the Flames on Tuesday for the penultimate game of their five-game road trip that wraps up in Ottawa on Thursday.