During the first intermission of the Vancouver Canucks and Washington Capitals game, Hockey Night in Canada analyst and former Canuck defenceman Kevin Bieksa spoke about the lack of protection the team has toward an opposing player roughing with the team’s captain and best player, Quinn Hughes.

“Quinn Hughes is an untouchable for Vancouver,” Bieksa said. “He’s your one untouchable, much like [Connor] McDavid. So when someone takes a shot at McDavid on the ice – I don’t care if you’re Connor Garland, I don’t care if you’re the backup goalie on the bench – everybody’s getting out of their comfort zone, and they’re going over, and they’re protecting who’s doing whatever it takes, right?

“Much like a McDavid, there’s a few, very few untouchables in the league. I think Quinn Hughes should be an untouchable like Connor to Vancouver. So I don’t care who you are in the Canucks. When your guy, your captain, is being treated like that, you drop whatever you’re doing, and you gang tackle whoever that guy is going after.”

The whole conversation first began in the previous meeting between the Canucks and Capitals earlier in January, when Pierre-Luc Dubois hit Hughes awkwardly into the boards.

And then the conversation sparked up again after Thursday night’s contest against the Edmonton Oilers when a scrum ensued behind the Edmonton net. Hughes leaves his point to join in, and Corey Perry first jumps in on former teammate Vincent Desharnais before seeing Hughes enter and jumps him and tackles him to the ice, resulting in a near-dangerous play as Hughes nearly lands on his head.

While Kiefer Sherwood came in and hit Dubois after the whistle, and Elias Pettersson went over to defend his captain against the Oilers, things like this shouldn’t be happening to such a high-profile player like Hughes.

“You just don’t expect Quinn Hughes to fight or have to even fight that battle,” Bieksa stated. “He should be protected by Team Tough. There’s four other guys on the ice, plus a goalie. That’s one where everybody jumps in, no matter what, and you defend your captain.”

Bieksa served as a protector for the Sedin twins during his 10-year Canucks career, and it clearly frustrates him to see the current team now not doing it for their franchise player.