For the sixth straight game, the Canucks conceded the game’s first goal.

Despite that stat, though, they’ve managed to win some games along the way, and tonight was no exception!

A theme this season has been Quinn Hughes’ impact on games, and that impact was on full display all night long, and started early. First, Hughes made a great move to set up Jake DeBrusk in the high slot for a solid shot that Darcy Kuemper turned away. On his next shift, Hughes used his skating ability to draw the first penalty call of the game and give the Canucks a prime opportunity to tie things up.

Now, the Canucks’ power play didn’t score, but it’s not what you think. They actually got their looks, and could have scored.

The Kings got a power play of their own after Nils Höglander took out Anze Kopitar, and the best chance of the man advantage came after a failed clearing attempt from Kevin Lankinen:

Tanner Jeannot was assessed a match penalty for this garbage blindside hit to Brock Boeser’s chin, giving the Canucks a five minute power play:

The Canucks’ power play zipped the puck around and looked more dangerous than they have in recent memory, and while they waited longer than most people would have liked, they eventually broke through when Conor Garland buried a cross-ice feed from JT Miller with a little help from Kuemper to make it 1-1. 

The period came to an end, and at the start of the second, the team announced that Boeser would not return to the game.

In the second, Jake DeBrusk benefited from Quinn Hughes doing great things once again to make it 2-1 Canucks. 

That’s goals in three straight games for DeBrusk, whose season got off to a noted slow start.

Filip Hronek took a tripping penalty, and the Canucks’ ensuing penalty kill was impressive. Later in the period, a Hronek wrist shot caught Mikey Anderson up high and left the Kings defenceman bloodied. It was a scary situation, and we’re all hoping for the best for Anderson.

After two periods, the Canucks were up by a goal, and their defensive game was phenomenal. LA is one of the best opponents the Canucks have faced, and with that context, this was shaping up to be one of the best performances we’ve seen from the Canucks this season.

Quinn Hughes extended the Canucks’ lead to two early in the third period after some absolute mastery with the puck on his stick at the blue line.

I mean, come on. That is just unreal stuff from the Canucks’ captain to make it 3-1. 

Vladislav Gavrikov fired a point shot through traffic that beat Kevin Lankinen to bring the Kings within one as time winded down in the third. 3-2.

With two minutes remaining, the Kings pulled Kuemper for the extra attacker. JT Miller fired a shot the length of the ice at the empty net to ice this one and make it 4-2.

The Canucks had their skating legs tonight and turned in one of their best games of the year to close out this road trip on a high note.

Some takeaways from tonight:

-Quinn Hughes is just on another level than the rest of the league. Another unbelievable performance from him tonight, and this time around, against a Pacific Division rival.
-The Canucks had one of their best games against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, and while this one was certainly an extension, it was more impressive because it came against a good NHL team. The Canucks’ schedule has been kind to them thus far, and outside of Carolina and New Jersey, they haven’t played any real premiere opponent just yet. And we all know how those two games went, of course. This was a good win.
-Nice to see Jake DeBrusk find his footing.
-Slowly but surely, it looks like Erik Brannstrom is stabilizing Vincent Desharnais’ game. I also liked what I saw from Desharnais on the penalty kill tonight.
-That Heinen-Blueger-Sherwood line is just pure electricity. They seem to make something happen every time they’re on the ice.
-Another fantastic start for KeVezina Lankinen.

What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!

Check out tonight’s livestream of Rink Wide Vancouver with Jeff Paterson below!