The Vancouver Canucks entered Thursday night’s matchup with the Los Angeles Kings knowing that anything less than a win would eliminate them from the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs—but somehow, that didn’t seem to matter at all.

Thursday also marked the NHL debut of 19-year-old Quinn Hughes—7^th overall draft pick in 2018 and the franchise-savior-to-be on the blueline. With expectations far higher than they should reasonably be for a teenage defensemen exiting an NCAA career, Hughes hit Vancouver ahead a storm of social media excitement—and in doing so, he gave Canucks fans one last reason to get hyped about the 2018/19 season.

Us too, Quinn. Us too.

As if Hughes’ arrival wasn’t exciting enough, he was joined in the lineup—as provided by @CanucksPR in graphical format—by a bevy of other young stars, including Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, Adam Gaudette, and Thatcher Demko:

The rebuild may not be complete in Vancouver—but it’s made substantial headway, and that was firmly on display as the Canucks circled the ice for warm ups and anticipation built in Rogers Arena.

In less-positive news, Sven Baertschi was again kept out of the lineup with a mysterious malady, leading to the return of Ryan Spooner. Ben Hutton was also back from injury.

Two minutes into the game, Quinn Hughes hit the ice for his first NHL shift—on an offensive zone faceoff, no less. After the play moved back into the Canucks’ end, Hughes won a puck battle with Michael Amadio behind the net—much to the delight of those in attendance. Hughes then efficiently exited the zone and moved the puck up ice, which eventually led to an Adam Gaudette chance. So far, so good.

Hughes’ second shift—which featured some clever stickwork, a bold pinch, and a deft pass to Jake Virtanen—was also suitably impressive.

Of course, other players were also playing in this game—including Bo Horvat, who set up a couple of Tanner Pearson attempts from the slot as the Canucks moved into an early lead on the shot-clock.

Hughes rolled off a sizeable check from Carl Grundstrom during his third shift, and defensive partner Luke Schenn skated over to let Grundstrom know—in no uncertain terms—that such behaviour just wasn’t acceptable. Hughes, for the record, seemed none the worse for wear—but there’s no doubt that this sort of bodyguarding will provide further ammunition for the #SignSchenn crowd.

The entire first half of the period passed without either team earning much in the way of significant scoring chances. The action picked up 13 minutes into the frame—but not in the way Canuck fans were hoping, as Austin Wagner opened the scoring on a pseudo-wraparound off a weird bounce.

After a solid stint of pressure from the combo of Gaudette, Ryan Spooner, and Markus Granlund, the play came back up the ice—resulting in a brilliant Thatcher Demko save, but also a Jay Beagle penalty for hooking to give Los Angeles the first powerplay of the game.

To make a bad situation worse, an attendee could be seen flashing white power signs in the background as Beagle sat in the box. Here’s hoping that the Canucks organization is able to ensure this individual never attends a game in Rogers Arena again.

The Canucks’ penalty killers came out strong, and the best chance of the man advantage actually went to the PKers—with Granlund and Tim Schaller taking off on a two-on-one that ended in inevitable bobbling.

With the action back to five-on-five, Hughes brought the Rogers Arena crowd to their feet with a blazing rush through the neutral zone—a play he concluded what can only be described as a sideways drop pass at the blueline. With Hughes deep in the zone and the Canucks buzzing, Jonathan Quick wisely decided to smother the puck.

On his next shift, Hughes did the same thing—but this time he carried the puck deep into the zone himself before dishing it off. The rabid #Canucks fanbase would have to be satisfied with a couple of uber-competent zone entries—as the score remained 1-0 Kings as the period ended.

Watching #Canucks Twitter clearing space on their collective mantlepiece for Quinn Hughes’ multiple future Norris Trophies.

Just under two minutes into the second, Troy Stecher was hammered by Kurtis MacDermid on a hit that looked an awful lot like interference—and Stecher went off for helmet repairs, but thankfully for not concussion protocol.

In the game that made him the Kings’ franchise leader in games played, Dustin Brown beat Quinn Hughes twice and Thatcher Demko once on the same shift—but he could not beat the post. In just his first NHL game, Hughes got to take part in an important Vancouver tradition—not liking Dustin Brown.

In a somewhat bizarre play, Luke Schenn was piggybacked and horse-collared to the ice in front of the referee—but no call was made. Schenn got to his feet irate, and grabbed the next guy he could get his hands on—who turned out to be MacDermid. The two dropped the gloves, but Schenn slipped to the ice before real punches could be thrown and they each received minors for roughing.

The four-on-four play saw Elias Pettersson almost—but not quite—spring Brock Boeser on a clean breakaway, and a Sean Walker shot pop the straps on Demko’s mask—but no real scoring chances for either side. With seconds remaining on the coincidental minors, Jake Virtanen hooked Adrian Kempe and Kempe responded by grabbing his stick—but it was Virtanen who was sent to the box for two minutes.

Schenn exited the box alongside MacDermid and was forced to play the penalty kill as a forward—and he nearly capitalized on the rare opportunity with a steal and a Jay Beagle two-on-one that Schenn failed to finish. The penalty kill ended with an Anze Kopitar off the crossbar and a wildly bouncing puck, but the score remained 1-0 heading into the period’s final TV timeout.

The Quinn Hughes show continued with a quick shot that Quick was forced to kick out, followed by a deep offensive foray and another chance at the net. Shortly thereafter, Ryan Spooner was robbed by Quick on a cross-crease passing play.

The Canucks received their first powerplay opportunity of the game with just under six minutes remaining in the period as Carl Grundstrom headed off for interference on Stecher—which Grundstrom had presumably thought was legal, given recent events.

It took the Canucks first unit all of five seconds to capitalize, as Bo Horvat won the faceoff and Elias Pettersson poked the puck back to the point—allowing Alex Edler to fire a wrister that snuck through the legs of Quick. With his 10^th goal of the season and the 94^th in his career, Edler moved into the top spot all time in franchise goals by a defenseman—passing Mattias Ohlund.

And that wouldn’t be the last milestone of the night.

Less than a minute later, Hughes smoothly skated the puck from the far point to behind the net like it was nothing and then played it to himself off the net to beat the defender—before attempting a wraparound shot that Quick stopped. Quick was unable, however, to stop Boeser from roofing the rebound—giving Hughes an assist and the first point of his NHL career.

Make it two goals, and two milestones, in 56 seconds. As far as first assists go, this was a pretty memorable one for a whole host of reasons. Even the Avengers were impressed.

Schenn picked up the secondary assist, and he also attempted to pick up the puck for safekeeping before Quick was ready to give it up—inciting a short but spirited scrum. Suddenly, the Canucks were ahead 2-1—and that’s where they would remain as the middle frame drew to a close.

Who knows? This author just went back and watched that same two-goal sequence over and over again.

Most Canuck fans were probably satisfied with the events of the first two periods, but there was still another 20 minutes left to go.

The first five minutes of the final frame were devoid of whistles and relatively uneventful, though Adam Gaudette did leave the ice in distress after taking an errant Jake Virtanen shot to the ribs. Fortunately, he returned to the ice shortly thereafter.

Toward the halfway point of the period, Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes conspired to create a handful of opportunities that Jonathan Quick aptly turned away—but that also left Rogers Arena buzzing.

Adrian Kempe ended the momentum by tying the game at the 11:47 mark—beating Thatcher Demko on the blocker side after having ample time to pick his shot.

As the teams settled into safer play with the score knotted, Virtanen gained a measure of revenge for Troy Stecher by rattling Kurtis MacDermid with a hard hit along the boards. The Larscheiders went wild.

Alex Biega put the puck over the glass with a little under five minutes remaining, putting the Kings on the powerplay and giving them a late opportunity to take the lead. They nearly did just that when a Dustin Brown point shot banked unexpectedly off Alex Edler—but Demko was able to make a sharp pad save on his own teammate. His fellow PKers were just as sharp, killing the remainder of the two-minute minor with ease.

Pettersson and Boeser broke out on a sizeable two-on-one shortly after the penalty expired, but Pettersson ultimately shot the puck wide. Hughes arrived on the scene to keep the play alive, and the Canucks’ holy trinity kept the pressure on the Kings’ defense for a sustained period—but were unable to beat Quick.

With the score tied after 60 minutes, the Vancouver faithful tried their best to pretend to be disappointed that the Canucks had blown the lead—and to hide their excitement at the prospect of seeing Quinn Hughes’ play three-on-three hockey.

Coach Travis Green bowed to experience, starting Alex Edler in overtime—alongside Bo Horvat and Josh Leivo. Horvat nearly converted on an Edler pass and crashed the net, but Jonathan Quick stood tall in his crease so deny the opportunity—and send Horvat flying.

On the next shift, Green gave the fans what they wanted putting all three members of the trinity on the ice at once—and they did not disappoint. Quinn Hughes nearly set up Brock Boeser tap-in before cycling the puck back to Elias Pettersson—and the trio toyed with the Kings for a while before Boeser suffered a near-miss in the crease.

The next time Pettersson and Boeser came out, they were accompanied by Edler—but the good times kept rolling. The dynamic duo broke in on yet another odd-man rush, and Pettersson deferred the puck to his linemate—who was absolutely robbed by the glove of Quick.

Before leaving the ice, Edler set a rather obvious pick on Anze Kopitar and—after thinking about it for a while—the trailing official called the penalty, putting Los Angeles on the powerplay with 1:36 remaining in overtime. The Kings spent that entire time in the Canucks’ end—but Demko, Jay Beagle, Luke Schenn, and Ben Hutton stymied everything that was thrown at them and sent the game to a shootout.

Elias Pettersson was the first player to shoot, and he attempted to beat Jonathan Quick with a Sam Steel-esque backhand move—but Quick denied him with the glove.

Adrian Kempe shot next, and missed the net on the first NHL shootout attempt in Thatcher Demko’s career.

Rogers Arena got on their feet as Quinn Hughes came out next—but his attempt to beat Quick five-hole was easily denied with the stick.

Anze Kopitar then tried to slide the puck under Demko’s pad with a clever backhand deke, but Demko was able to squeeze it to the ice and keep things tied moving into the third round.

Brock Boeser was the next contender, and he got in close before unleashing a shot that Quick smartly turned aside.

The record-breaking Dustin Brown then did his best to beat Demko low, but Demko kicked it right back out at him.

Former King Tanner Pearson was next up, and he fired a hard shot that hit Quick’s shoulder and trickled over—putting the Canucks ahead with the shootout’s first successful attempt.

When Alex Iafallo missed the net shortly thereafter, Demko had earned his first shootout victory—and the Canucks had beat the Kings to the tune of 3-2.

What more could Vancouver ask for out of this one? Quinn Hughes had a sparkling debut that featured a highlight-reel assist and Alex Edler set a franchise record. Elias Pettersson added to his already impressive totals and Thatcher Demko got back in the win column. Three-on-three overtime provided all the excitement Rogers Arena could handle.

As an added bonus, the win keeps the Canucks technically in the playoff hunt—albeit, only until the Colorado Avalanche gains a single point. That being said, nobody was watching the out-of-town scoreboard tonight.

Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and Brock Boeser sharing the ice is a dream come true for Vancouver fans. Having them each score a point in a victory over an old rival? Well, that’s just gravy.

 

Who else but Hughes? A fair percentage of fans in attendance tonight probably bought their tickets with the sole intention of viewing Hughes—and he was more than worth the price of admission. He had a highlight reel assist for his first NHL point, and he looked consistently bold and confident—especially during three-on-three overtime. In short, Hughes joined Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson in making memorable Canuck debuts—and Rogers Arena is probably still buzzing because of it.

As one generation of Canucks defense begins, another reaches an important milestone. For all that will be said about Hughes’ NHL debut, Edler allowed for the rookie to enjoy some sheltered minutes by taking on his typically enormous ice-time—and he continues to help the Vancouver powerplay look dangerous.

Demko’s last start was a tough one, so it’s nice to see him bounce back with such a strong performance. Demko turned aside 32 of 34 shots and all four attempts in his first ever shootout—but most importantly, he looked calm and steady in a game that was fraught with emotion.

The Canucks have just four games remaining on the season—and just two at home! The second-to-last home game of the season comes Saturday, March 30, against the Dallas Stars. The star-time is 7:00PM PST and the game will be broadcast on both CBC and Sportsnet Pacific.