The Vancouver Canucks find themselves in a rough position, having gone 1-5-1 in their last seven games. Their most recent setback was their 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver.
The five-foot-10 blue-liner won the Norris Trophy for the NHL's best defenseman in 2023-24, and with half of this season in the books, he's making another case for himself. Throughout all of the turmoil that the Vancouver Canucks have endured, Hughes' numbers have remained consistent.
Hughes is up to the 50-point mark (12 goals, 38 assists), and he's earned 20 of those points on the power play. He's added 123 shots on net, 41 blocked shots and a plus-13 rating. A 20-goal campaign is still a plausible outcome as Hughes continues to be the cream of the crop among NHL blueliners.
Leon Draisaitl scored twice and Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for the Oilers (29-14-3), who lost for the first time in five games and second in the past 10 (8-2-0).
Hughes scored a goal on three shots in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Kings.
Quinn Hughes recorded one of the more bizarre stat lines on Saturday night. The Vancouver Canucks captain scored a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs yet finished the night with zero shots on net. At first glance, this stat line doesn't make a lot of sense, which is why an explanation as to what happened on the play is needed.
Elias Pettersson skated with Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk, and was more frequently self-matched with Quinn Hughes against the top end of the Toronto lineup. Frankly, Pettersson’s deployment patterns on Saturday more closely matched how the Canucks have utilized J.T. Miller for much of this season.
Quinn Hughes scored twice and the struggling Vancouver Canucks edged the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Saturday. Danton Heinen added a goal and J.T. Miller contributed two assists for the Canucks (20-15-10), who came into the game with losses in six of their last seven contests.
J.T. Miller and the Vancouver Canucks secured a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at Rogers Arena. Quinn Hughes scored twice on the power play and Danton Heinen added another goal.
The Vancouver Canucks snapped their two-game losing streak on Saturday with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Quinn Hughes scored twice, while Danton Heinen also beat Stuart Skinner as part of a three-goal first period. As for Thatcher Demko, he stopped 13 of 15 shots for his third win of the season.
The Canucks' best player on Saturday night may not even be part of the team on Sunday. All the conjecture made J.T. Miller's performance against the Oilers even more impressive and poignant.