Vancouver Canucks 3 stars of the week: Pius Suter and Brock Boeser grab hat-tricks and Quinn Hughes continues his tear

In January, the Vancouver Canucks dominated the field with a record of 10-1-2.

Their overall season performance stands at an impressive 33-11-5, leading the entire NHL standings as they head into a 10-day All-Star break.

By now, you’ve heard it all:

“A lucky run.”

“Overachieving.”

“Just wait for the regression.”

“The PDO machine will eventually run out.”

These are just some of the lines that Canuck fans have had to endure from other markets throughout the year.

Heck, even some Canucks fans have joined in on the shaming.

Well, as we head into the break, it may finally be time to take this team seriously. The team’s stats speak for themselves:

You can add four players ranking in the top 20 in scoring, a Vezina-worthy goaltender, and six representatives at the All-Star game in Toronto, to boot.

While he won’t be receiving any recognition this week, we’d be foolish not to highlight Elias Pettersson’s remarkable month. With 14 goals in January, he shares a spot with Florida Panthers’ Sam Reinhart for the league lead in goals (14) and will finish fourth in total points (21 in 13 games).

What contract distractions?

Now, let’s dive into this week’s three stars.

Quinn Hughes continues to make an indelible mark on the hockey world, and we are just fortunate witnesses to his brilliance.

Let’s be honest, a point on the scoresheet feels like a reasonable expectation every time he takes the ice nowadays. This week, he extended his point streak to six games, contributing another goal and five assists.

 

With 62 points on the year, he not only leads the defensive circuit but sits within the top 10 among the entire National Hockey League.

At the age of 24, Quinn Hughes has placed himself on a truly remarkable organizational pedestal. After delivering a club-best 76-point performance last year, surpassing his previous record of 68 points, he is now on pace to completely shatter those records.

In just 49 games this season, he is a mere 14 points away from surpassing his previous season’s 76 total and is maintaining an astounding 104-point pace — only six players have reached the century mark in club history.

Currently, Hughes sits just one point shy of Doug Lidster’s 1986-87 total of 63 points, which ranks third in club history. Once he surpasses that mark, Hughes will occupy all three of the club’s top single-season point totals.

Truly unreal.

Brock Boeser has officially achieved 30-goal scorer status in the NHL.

Following a stellar rookie season with 29 goals, this milestone certainly felt like a long time coming.

Of course, it’s always better late than never.

As if it could have come in any other fashion, Boeser achieved this milestone with a hat trick in a thrilling third-period comeback against the Blue Jackets on a Saturday night at Rogers Arena.

Additionally, he contributed the primary assist in the overtime-winning goal, along with two in the game prior, marking his best two-game stretch of the season with six points.

Teammate JT Miller had high praise for Boeser following the victory over Columbus.

“He makes me a better player, no doubt.”

He’s arrived, folks. Rookie Brock has officially returned to Vancouver.

As we’ve emphasized throughout the year, one of the more encouraging aspects of this fairytale 2023-24 campaign is the incredible secondary scoring.

Production is coming from all angles right now, and this week, it was Pius Suter’s time to jump on the train, securing a point in each of their three games.

His standout moment was the three-goal performance against the St. Louis Blues for his second career hat-trick.

Scoring all three goals in the final frame, Suter tied the game late in the third period, earning a single point to keep the Canucks’ point streak alive — they currently have points in 11 consecutive games.

With 18 points in 35 games, there is a realistic pathway to securing career highs this year (36 points), as he continues to fire at a 42-point pace.

He also led the charge in Corsi throughout the week, finishing with an impressive 72.58% across all situations.

The Canucks now carry nine players in double digits in goals, equaling the same number the club had for the entire season last year.

With the All-Star game on deck, the team will enjoy a 10-day break before returning to action on Tuesday, February 4th, as they head to Carolina to kickstart a five-game road trip.