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The Stanchies: Filip Hronek battles until the bitter end in Canucks’ 4-3 loss to Islanders
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The Stanchion
Jan 20, 2026, 02:45 ESTUpdated: Jan 20, 2026, 03:28 EST
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Rest easy, Lonny Bohonos and Larry Courville, your spot in the Vancouver Canucks losing streak hall of shame has been removed. With the New York Islanders’ 4-3 victory on Monday night, the 2025/26 Canucks now lay claim to the longest losing streak in franchise history at 11 games. There is good news, however: eleven straight losses is something being welcomed with open arms in this city, as the thirst for first continues.
Back in 1997/98, though? That was the start of the Mark Messier years, back when he was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle, which instead ended up being one of the darkest timelines you could have come up with. And although Bryan Allen, selected fourth overall with the draft pick from that horrendous season, went on to have a perfectly respectable NHL career, many in Vancouver are hoping for a bit of a higher bar this time around.
That being said, if you’re going to lose an 11th game in a row, at least the Canucks made it a good one. I won’t insult your intelligence by calling any of these games good, but in terms of effort level and excitement, this was one of the better nights of the season. This is how you want your team to play as it goes through its growing pains, showing some spirit and not just openly accepting the incoming loss with barely a flinch.
Fil Hronek in particular stood out to me, especially during a third period five-on-three penalty kill situation. With nothing to play for except pride, it was Fil Hronek battling like it was a playoff game, playing hard on the body, harassing the puck carriers, and at one point flinging himself through the air to make sure he cleared the puck out of the zone. In a season in which the “oh wow” moments have been few and far between, chalk that one up as one of the highlights of the season for me. Call me old-fashioned, but I still get hyped when I see a guy battling it out like his life depends upon it, even amidst a losing streak in a rebuilding season. If you want to keep veterans around as a good example for the kids, put Hronek at the very top of that list.
Overall, it was a decent game from Vancouver. They carried the play for long stretches of the game, utilizing an offensive cohesion we haven’t seen much of this year. Not every scoring chance was banging away at a rebound from a point shot; there were actual moments when they were slinging the puck around and looking for shots with bad intentions, a nice change of pace if we’re being honest.
Ultimately, the Canucks defensive coverage rose up to be the tank hero it needed to be, as the Islanders secured the win on less than ideal decisions from Vancouver in their own zone.
In the end, the Canucks got the result they needed with an effort that was appreciated, and that’s about as good as it gets in a season like this.
Let’s dive into this one.
Best Grey’s Anatomy update
We have hit the “looking for answers all across the globe” part of the Demko timeline, which feels ominous?
Best big news of the day
The off-ice news of the day was, of course, the trade of Kiefer Sherwood, who was dealt for two second-rounders and some guy named Cole Clayton. There were always rumours of the Canucks wanting a first-rounder for Kiefer. However, a return of two second-rounders is still a pretty big win for Vancouver, who finally, finally, traded away a free agent signing at a much higher value than when they first got him.
In terms of the human side of things, it’s sad to see Kiefer Sherwood go. He seemed to truly love the city of Vancouver and appreciated the fan base, something that doesn’t happen all the time around these parts. His play on the ice was also a highlight on many nights, as his appetite for landing hits and his skilled hands made him an engaging presence in the middle of the roster. He’s one of those guys you want to see in the playoffs because you know he’s going to bring it every single night and won’t back down from a single battle. The Sharks are a fun, exciting hockey club, and I imagine many a Canucks fan will enjoy seeing him work towards a post-season berth this season.
From a business side of things, it was very much the right deal, however. As tantalizing as his combination of grit and skill is, he is turning 31 in March and looking to cash in on a big contract, which doesn’t align with the Canucks’ rebuild timeline.
And as they say, when one person leaves, another person has to step up, which is where we found ourselves when Max Sasson opened the scoring on the night, sniping home a pass from Linus Karlsson in the slot:
Tony DeAngelo attempts to make what I will charitably call a dogsh!t pass to Scott Mayfield in front of his net, only for Max Sasson to blow his spot by jumping up and hitting the puck away. David Kämpf makes a kind of incredible cross-ice pass over to Linus Karlsson (incredible in that I didn’t think he had that in him). Then Karlsson goes full Hank Sedin by choosing to not shoot in a spot where your soul was screaming for said shot, only to find a guy even more open than him in Max Sasson. It’s the kind of play Elias Pettersson is trying to make every time he passes out of a shot, except Linus made it work here.
Perhaps fueled by the best pass of his season, David Kämpf then almost scored off of a Drew O’Connor setup from behind the net, only to be denied by Ilya Sorokin:
It was a fun opening period, I won’t lie. The Islanders didn’t strike me as a super competent team on the night, as their defensive zone coverage often felt like a zone system where everyone just sort of followed the direction of the puck and hoped for the best, which led to more offensive chances than we’ve seen recently from Vancouver. At times, it felt like the Islanders were deploying the Canucks Quinn Hughes strategy of sitting back and biding their time until their young phenom defenceman, Matthew Schaefer, could generate some offence.
The Islanders did get a good look on net on the counterattack, however, when Jonathan Drouin almost tipped home a pass into the crease from Tony DeAngelo after sneaking in behind the Canucks coverage:
You’ll notice David Kämpf just sort of spinning in place at one point, releasing Drouin for reasons (bees?), which was just a nice, gentle reminder that breakdowns in coverage were surely coming.
One such breakdown should have made it a tie game, but Maxim Tsyplakov misfired on what looked to be a sure goal by the side of the net:
This is one of the more egregious defensive coverage mistakes on the night in my mind, because I truly don’t know how Aatu Räty can go from battling Tsplakov in the crease, to releasing him and skating wildly to the corner to try and harass the puck carrier. I have watched this video countless times, and I still don’t know when Aatu decides that “yes, now is the time to leave this guy alone in front of the goalie whilst I go chase Adam Boqvist in the corner.” At best, I think he thinks Hronek got beat on the drive behind the net, but even then, you cannot release a check in front of your net like that. If you do that in beer league, your goalie will pretend not to hear you when you ask him to toss you a beer at the end of the night, and/or possibly get a passive-aggressive comment about you later in the group chat.
Despite the defensive issues, at least Vancouver was causing another team to have issues of their own, as Conor Garland almost tipped him a shot in his office at the side of the net, just pushing it wide:
Even in that clip, you can see that Vancouver was playing better than in any of the recent games. Good pressure on the forecheck, winning puck battles, and when they got the puck to the point with time and space, they looked for a high-end finish with the tap-in, instead of just flinging the puck on net.
Best crack in the armour
The Islanders would eventually make the Canucks pay for their defensive coverage when Defensive Minded Elias Pettersson played things a bit loose, backing off of Anthony Duclair to double up Hronek’s man in Anders Lee, and cannot get back in time to block the shooting lane:
It’s not the worst error you’ll see, but it just sort of speaks to the whole Canucks experience this season. Instances where a player just sort of wanders into the sewer looking for their paper boat, leaving a guy open for a goal.
That being said, Kevin Lankinen will absolutely want that goal back. He gets into position but then gets beat short side, which isn’t ideal.
Best stonks
Fil Hronek and Evander Kane would pull off a faceoff strat that has a time-honoured tradition in beer league, the one in which you win the draw while a dude busts his ass down the rink and looks for the Hail Mary pass:
A bit of luck, a bit of skill, that’s how Hronek makes that pass, and it works. If you ever want to see passion and energy and hustle in a player, let Evander Kane think he has a shot at a breakaway. Nobody faster in the world. He tries a good move but gets stopped, but he wouldn’t be denied long, as on the same shift, Kane would eventually tip from a Defensive Elias Pettersson shot from the point:
Honestly, Evander Kane had a really good offensive night. Defensively, he will forever and always be Planet Ice, but offensively? It might have been the best he’s looked all season. The jokes about upping his trade value write themselves, but laughs aside, this is the kind of tape you can sell other teams on should you want to move him.
The second they ask to see his underlying defensive stats, you slap them in the face and throw water at them, of course. But putting that aside, good game.
Remember, they can fix him. That’s how you sell any player.
They.
Can.
Fix.
Him.
Best fresh hotness
The Canucks continued to rush the puck with purpose, as Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson both took turns running the puck to the net. Both men used different strategies as Jake chose the Mason Raymond method of shooting high and wide, whereas Elias actually did a pretty dope fake out where he threw a puck on net instead of the pass Sorokin was looking for:
On that same shift, with momentum on their side, Brock Boeser tried to force a pass to thoughts and prayers, which the Islanders turned into what looked like the tying goal:
When you pass it in the middle
And you never hear a whistle
And you don’t think you can skate back in time
By the time you grab your stick
And you start feeling sick
You’re at the blueline watching Schaefer skate by
It’s alright ’cause you’re saved by the bell.
If Zeev Buium has a test
And he falls down in a mess
And he ends up scoring on Lankinen in tight
Riding low on the bench
Giving his teeth a mighty clench
He sighs knowing an offside will make it alright
It’s alright ’cause you’re saved by the bell.
I will say that I almost wanted that goal to count because it was such a ridiculous move from Schaefer. He truly has that Quinn Hughes aura where you’re like, “There is no way this young kid can be this good, right?” even though you know he is. He is absolutely worth the price of admission.
Best trading chances
As I said, though, it was hard to find much to complain about on this night, defensive issues aside. It was nice seeing Brock Boeser take the puck hard to the net while DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson attacked at the rebound like the vultures they are:
And in case you forgot, here is Schaefer once again walking around people at will, almost creating goals out of nothing:
Fun opening period all around, I wouldn’t be against letting the Islanders come back to Vancouver at a future date.
Best mushy middle
The Islanders chased the puck a lot in this game and felt very reactive at times and not very proactive. It would lead to extended shifts where they would be stuck on the ice, and Vancouver would do their best to take advantage of it:
You can see a bit of the passivity from the Islanders in that clip, where they lose a puck battle and then spend the rest of the time sort of following the puck around the ice, not really challenging for it, and not cutting it off at any point. DeBrusk ends the play by making a strong move to the middle and getting a good shot off.
Aatu Räty would then charge in hard on the forecheck, throwing a big hit, resulting in Liam Öhgren setting up Linus Karlsson for a high danger shot on net:
Even Liam Öhgren passing that puck there, that’s fun to see. It’s a higher-skilled play, and at this point, I’ll take the team trying to get creative now and then over the standard “put puck on net, look for rebound” mode they usually find themselves in.
And Räty would generate a scoring chance once again off of his strong forecheck, as this time Evander Kane would collect the puck and then try to ram the puck directly into the net of the Islanders:
It just felt nice to see the team trying, you know? They gave a glimpse of that world in which the team is young, and rebuilding, and not everyone hates their lives, and they actually still have a dream of winning in Vancouver instead of forcing a trade to Minnesota.
It’s the little things, you know?
Best shake and bake
Matthew Barzal got embarrassed on live television in the second period, as Elias Pettersson not only drove right around him to get a wraparound shot on net, but he would then later break the ankles of the Coquitlam native with a little NBA Jam razzle dazzle in the corner:
I pumped the tires of Hronek in the opening, but let me also pump the tires of Elias Pettersson, as he was also noticeably one of the better players on the night. These are the games where you can see other teams really leaning into the “we can fix him” mantra that fuels half the trades in the NHL.
Best shooting your shot
Up by a goal and with a power play in hand, Vancouver had the chance to make it a two-goal lead on this chance from Öhgren, set up by who else, Fil Hronek:
Ilya Sorokin makes a really weird save animation on the pass from Hronek, but recovers in time to make what I would call a game-changing save on Liam in the crease, just getting a pad on the puck at the last second.
It just felt like Hronek wanted no part of setting a losing streak record, which is something I can respect. Dude was busting his ass all over the ice.
Best why I do Duclair
Jake is on the penalty kill because Teddy Blueger is in witness protection, and because he gets delightful breakaway rushes now and then.
That being said, David Kämpf and Jake DeBrusk team up to somehow both not cover Duclair on the power play, who beats them by…standing still:
He literally just glides into position, and then every Canuck on the ice just sort of forgets he exists. Kämpf decides the cross-crease pass is the ultimate danger, so he dives to the ice to block a hypothetical pass, and Jake is slow to get back, so nobody ends up taking the stick of Duclair.
I actually kind of enjoy the fact that Kämpf thinks a pass is the biggest threat there, to the point he dives to the ground, taking himself out of any future plays in the next couple of seconds. It’s a bold play, I’ll give him that. He did it with conviction.
Best swarm swarm swarm
The Islanders would then take the lead for good after the Canucks coverage once again broke down, as this time they did the unthinkable; they forgot about Ryan Pulock:
Never forget about Ryan Pulock.
For reasons (bees) I cannot quite understand, Nils Höglander and Linus Karlsson get into a heated rivalry as they both decide that they should be the one to get back into their zone quickest. They end up hustling down low and along the boards, while David Kämpf watches with what I can only hope is a sense of wry amusement. Kämpf then continues to watch his friends race around the ice, and continues his own journey into the corner, thus giving us the Ryan Pulock moment none of us saw coming.
It’s just a bad play overall where the Canucks once again overstuff one side of the ice, and nobody seems to recognize that they are, in fact, in danger.
And of course, who else by Matthew Schaefer is the one who finds Pulock open with time and space to unleash what I’m told was a pretty fast wrist shot.
Best punish them all
Evander Kane randomly decided to murder Adam Pelech at one point, so there’s that:
There’s a freeze frame in which Pelech’s mouth is open in a mixture of shock and pain, where you can tell he’s going to be feeling that hit tomorrow.
I truly think Evander Kane will round into better form as the major surgery he had gets further and further into the rearview mirror.
I just think all the gains will be made on one side of the ice only.
Still seems worth three first-rounders, minimum.
Best understanding the mission
With his team down a man already, Tyler Myers knew a cross-check could seal the deal for Team Tank on this night. And the Chaos Giraffe? He don’t miss:
And with the Canucks looking like their night was done, down a goal in the third and facing an extended five-on-three situation, what happened next surprised me.
The Canucks didn’t just hold things down. They shut things down.
The best chance the Islanders got? A shot on net where they prayed they’d get the rebound:
That was the extent of it. Marcus Pettersson, Elias Pettersson, and Fil Hronek put on a master class of defending, and this was a situation in which MP3 didn’t have his stick for most of it. The final part of that clip, Hronek slaps the puck while falling down, adding the proper amount of drama and respect to the moment.
If you talk about moments where you can earn yourself an emotional clap from Charles S. Dutton, this would be one of them. Just one of those bad ass moments where you find yourself nodding your head, going “**** yeah, well done boys” and there isn’t a single thought of Team Tank in your mind. It was just nice to see them lock in and do well at hockey, something that we can sometimes forget to enjoy during bleak seasons such as these.
Best is there anything he can’t do
Evander Kane came about this close to tying the game up on a power play in the third period, if it wasn’t for those damn kids:
Looking like a young Dan Hamhuis, Schaefer shoves the puck back under his goaltender, and danger was averted.
Best there are four lights
Alas, New York would get their fourth goal off of an Anders Lee rebound, as Tony DeAngelo would jump on a rebound and put it past a slightly surprised Tyler Myers:
Again, another situation where a player is wide open, and nobody is in the area to do much about it. There is clearly a bit of bad luck at play here in that the rebound bounced out to DeAngelo, but you also have all five Canuck skaters staring at Anders Lee, which makes it easier for bad luck to befall you.
Best asking the hard questions
Jack Rathbone would have been impressed with the gumption shown by Fil Hronek, as he did everything in his power to get the puck on net, where he knows their best offensive threat, Drew O’Connor, will take care of the rest:
That fake slapshot to freeze the defender so Hronek could get the wrist shot through? Oh, you better believe that’s the good stuff.
Drew would tip home his 11th goal of the season, and with over half the season completed, I worry he won’t hit 20 goals.
But doubting Drew is what fuels him. I look forward to goal number 20 by the end of the season, good sir.
Best rules are rules
Evander Kane ended the night with four hits (two on Schaefer alone), five shots, one goal, and several “that could have been a goal” moments:
Worth at least five rounders is what I’m thinking.
Best sage advice
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