Perhaps Quinn Hughes said it best on the heels of the Vancouver Canucks‘ shootout win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.

“We’ve got three and a half weeks left to save our season so at this point, it’s just put your foot down and wherever that leads us… We’re going to try to do everything we can to make the playoffs here and I believe we can, but if that doesn’t happen, what we’re building here the next couple years — just the care factor — I’m liking what I’m seeing.”

The players are trying. They’re giving it their all despite very real adversity from multiple angles this season. The JT Miller situation and subsequent trade of the Canucks’ top forward. The latest, two injuries to two-thirds of the Canucks’ first line, featuring two guys who were playing their best hockey of the season before going down. You could even lump Saturday’s result against the Rangers, where the team played one of their most complete games of the year but still managed to lose in regulation, into that conversation as well.

It’s been a trying season, and with their playoff hopes hanging in the balance, the Canucks came through and picked up a massive two points on the back of sheer will and determination. They now sit three points back of the second Wild Card spot in the NHL’s Western Conference standings.

But what else needs to happen for the Canucks to actually pull off the improbable and force their way into the dance? We’re going to examine four factors beyond the obvious ones of “the team needs to win games” and “the penalty kill needs to keep playing well.”

This was going to read “Thatcher Demko stays healthy and shakes off the rust quickly”, but if Monday night was any indication, there isn’t much rust for Demko to shake off.

Demko was dynamite against the Devils, making key stops throughout the game to keep the Canucks in it. Not to mention his game-saving splits save in overtime, which brought the game to shootout, where Demko was once again brilliant.

Demko took some time to get back to his elite form this season, and seemingly just as he did, he went down with another injury that he is now returning from. If Demko can stay healthy and turn in Vezina-calibre goaltending? That’s an added bonus and could be what takes this hardworking group from good to great as they chase down a playoff spot. Just. Stay. Healthy.

Speaking of staying healthy…

There hasn’t been a key contributor to the Canucks this season who hasn’t at least been banged up to some degree. If the Canucks are going to pull this off, they’re going to need some good news on the injury front. And of course, that goes beyond just good news surrounding Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander, who left the Canucks’ road trip early to head home to Vancouver. That’s important for the Canucks’ playoff hopes too, but this team simply cannot afford to lose any more key players down the stretch during their quest to — as the captain put it — save their season.

Whether you’re the biggest Elias Pettersson fan or the biggest Elias Pettersson hater, there’s no denying that he makes the Canucks stronger down the middle.

Pius Suter and Teddy Blueger are fine pieces, and Aatu Räty’s faceoff prowess is certainly impressive, but the hole at centre left by Pettersson’s absence is only made greater with Filip Chytil being out indefinitely with a concussion.

At some point, the Canucks are going to need Pettersson back if they’re going to run the table over the next few weeks. With Pettersson heading back to Vancouver and seemingly missing the rest of this road trip, the club is obviously hoping for some good news on the injury front, as mentioned above.

But if Pettersson is able to return at some point soon, the Canucks are going to need him to be the threat that he was prior to getting hurt, when he tallied four goals and six assists over the course of eight games. Pettersson was undeniably playing his best hockey of the season, and he’s going to need to find that form in a hurry if this team is going to make the playoffs.

The Canucks haven’t gotten much lately, but at some point, they’re going to need some help on the out-of-town scoreboard.

Namely, with the St. Louis Blues and their remaining schedule. At the time of this writing, the Blues are on a six-game winning streak and are three points ahead of the Canucks in the standings with 81. The Canucks do have a game in hand, but mathematically, they’re going to need the Blues to lose some games down the stretch. That might not sound like a big ask, but the Blues don’t exactly have a murderer’s row of opponents coming up (especially when compared to the Canucks’ remaining schedule). Here is who the Blues will face from now until the end of the regular season:

Can the Montreal Canadiens end the Blues’ winning streak? Can the Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, or Pittsburgh Penguins snatch two points away from the Blues? Canucks fans are certainly going to be hoping so. Just look how much tonight’s game between the Habs and Blues will matter for St. Louis’s playoff hopes:

To a lesser extent, the Minnesota Wild present an interesting team to watch as the regular season winds down. Currently holding down the first Wild Card spot with 85 points, the Wild are banged up and have a relatively tough schedule coming up. With games against Dallas, Vegas, and Washington still to come, the Wild’s path to locking down a playoff spot isn’t necessarily an easy one. The Canucks and Wild also play on April 12th, which is the Wild’s second-to-last game of the season and the Canucks’ third-last…

And of course, beyond needing help from those two teams (but especially the Blues), the Canucks also need the Calgary Flames and Utah Hockey Club to lose their way out of the conversation.

It’s certainly going to be an interesting final stretch of the regular season for the 2024-25 Vancouver Canucks.