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Instant Reaction: Zeev Buium scores game-winning goal in Canucks debut vs. Devils
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Photo credit: © John Jones-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Dec 14, 2025, 15:23 ESTUpdated: Dec 14, 2025, 15:33 EST
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Welcome back to Instant Reaction, the series here at CanucksArmy where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Vancouver Canucks game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!

Starting lineup

The first game of the Quinn Hughes-less era starts now. All three of the new guys, Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium and Liam Öhgren, are in the lineup and making their Canucks debut.
Rossi centring the top line with Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser, Liam Öhgren on the fourth line left wing with Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson, and Zeev Buium paired with Tyler Myers. Thatcher Demko gets the start in goal. Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains and PO Joseph are serving as today’s scratches.

First period

We start with an early Canucks power play, following a Dougie Hamilton slashing penalty on Conor Garland. It went from new guy to new guy, as Marco Rossi won the draw back to Zee Buium.
It was our first opportunity to see what this new-look Hughes-less Canucks power play would look like. And well, we didn’t see it last very long, as they connected early.
Buium sends a pass to Jake DeBrusk curling at the top of the zone. He does a give-and-go with Garland, who opens himself up down low at the net front, where Jake finds most of his success. DeBrusk gets stopped at first, but he’s grabs his own rebound and elevates the puck over former Canuck Jacob Markstrom to give the Canucks an early lead:
That’s the first of many points in a Canucks uniform for rookie defenceman Zeev Buium.
1-0 Canucks.
The Canucks controlled play for seven minutes of the period. They strung together threatening offensive-zone shifts and held the New Jersey Devils without a shot for the first seven-and-a-half minutes.
Stephan Noesen hit new-Canuck Liam Öhgren right in the numbers, sending the already 1-1 Canucks power play.
And while it wasn’t pretty, Buium gets his first goal in the blue and green on the Canucks’ second man-advantage.
Garland brings the puck down the wall and into the offensive zone. He sends a backhand pass that
2-0 Canucks.
Tyler Myers took an interference penalty after pushing Connor Brown to the ice and into the boards. Brown was fine, but the Devils were sent to the power play.
Kiefer Sherwood clearly had his fantasy football quarterfinals on his mind, as after his clearing attempt gets blocked, he looks to throw the puck out of the zone. That’s a penalty, and the Canucks were two short.
To this point, the Canucks had just allowed the Devils to test Demko once. But added three shots on net on the two-man advantage, but could not beat Demko.

Second period

The Canucks were dominating the first few minutes of the period. They were in the Devils’ end, creating pressure, while being able to change and get fresh legs. However, it was the Devils who capitalized.
Coming in on the rush, Dawson Mercer spins back and finds Jesper Bratt, who taps it back to a trailing Luke Hughes, who snipes one into the top right corner to cut the lead in half.
2-1 Canucks.
Shortly after, Rossi had a great chance to join Buium by getting his first with his Canucks debut, when he brought the puck in on the rush and snuck a shot past Markstrom, but it rang off the post.
The Devils would control most of the play this period, outshooting the Canucks 13-6. But Demko stopped everything fired his way, and the Canucks walked into the second break with a 2-1 lead.

Third period

It didn’t take long for Tyler Myers to find himself in some trouble, as he got called for his second infraction of the game. As Cody Glass was skating past, Myers pushed him to the ice and sent the Devils to the power play.
The power play wasn’t all that threatening; however, it certainly gave the Devils life. New Jersey controlled play in the Canucks end and did a good job of clogging up the neutral zone to force Vancouver into an icing or a turnover, and that’s how it was for most of the period. The Canucks looked like a team that was just looking to park the bus and protect their one-goal lead. As a result, Jake DeBrusk’s
Rossi failed to clear the zone, and the Devils nearly capitalized. The puck found Bratt all alone to the left of Demko. The Devil sent the puck to the net front, where chaos broke out. Dawson Mercer had a fantastic chance at equalizing this game in the final minutes, but a sprawling Myers made the save.
However, Rossi made up for that failed zone exit when he perfectly read the play to be in the right position to intercept a pass later on. He sent a pass to David Kämpf, who fanned at his shot at the empty net and his chance to pick up his first as a Canuck.
The Canucks held on and won this not-very-well-attended Hughes bowl.
Game takeaways:
Let’s talk about the new guys.
– Rossi – He was solid defensively, especially on that play late. He didn’t do anything to wow me, but he wasn’t bad by any means. He finishes the game as the Canucks’ best faceoff man, winning 60% of his draws.
– Buium – He’s not Hughes, but he certainly has some Hughes-like traits in his game. The way he walked the line in the offensive zone in the first period, I honestly had to remind myself that that wasn’t Hughes. He’s going to be exciting to watch.
– Öhgren – While he didn’t do much in this game, there were some movements he was making that you could see why he was drafted in the first round. He has some tools, let’s see if he can figure it out here in Vancouver.
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