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The Stanchies: Senators needed just 15 seconds to extend Canucks’ losing streak to eight
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Photo credit: © Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
Lachlan Irvine
Jan 14, 2026, 03:08 EST
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There’s a fine line to balance when you’re a team tanking for the best lottery odds in the National Hockey League.
Yes, losing games helps you get closer and closer to the dream of a generational talent at the end of the rebuild rainbow. But you still need your young players to learn and grow as a team, and that means winning games against very beatable opponents.
The Ottawa Senators were a prime team to win points from. The Sens are embroiled in gossip, have won only three of their last 10, and were firmly planted in the Eastern Conference’s basement.
Instead, the Canucks turned in a performance that wouldn’t make it out of previews on Broadway. They barely cracked single digits in shot totals through the first 40 minutes, and even those were labourous to get.
The lack of serious chances flew in total disregard for the game plan I laid out in today’s Stanchies Pregame: throw as many pucks as possible at Leevi Meriläinen, one of the four Senators goalies to suit up this year, none of whom have a save percentage above an .881. Oof.
The lack of serious chances made sure the Sens only needed to work for approximately 15 seconds: the amount of time between Artem Zub and Jordan Spence’s goals late in the first period. It would be the only goals they got all night, and it was all they needed.
Sometimes getting what you’ve wanted for the last decade is a double-edged sword. Only 36 games to go!
Let’s get a move on.
Best helping out the cause
Remember when you were an only child playing mini-sticks and shooting the ball off the wall to make saves?
No one? Just me? Never mind, then.
Leevi Meriläinen’s night was going to be pretty easy overall. Perhaps he knew that was going to be the case, because he essentially shot a rebound at himself after an Evander Kane shot on goal.
Aatu Räty tried to get a whack at it, but sometimes the goalie beats you to it.
Best chaotic good
Speaking of goaltending, Kevin Lankinen had himself a fun night! Well, as fun as you can have when your team loses seven games in a row.
On one of the Sens’ early rushes, Lankinen challenged far out of the blue paint and closed off Brady Tkachuk’s shooting lane. But he wasn’t able to stop the puck cleanly, creating a little bit of a scramble to snag the puck entirely.
And this was just an appetizer to some of his bigger saves in the second period.
Best slump buster
Someone ended their scoring drought tonight! Spoiler alert: it was not Brock Boeser.
Late in the first, Ridly Greig won an O-zone faceoff against David Kämpf. Greig pushed it to Michael Amadio, who found Shane Pinto at the top of the circle. Kämpf and Boeser closed in on Pinto, but not before he fed the puck to noted cool-name haver Artem Zub near the blue line.
Lankinen left a touch too much open room on the short side as he moved to his glove side, and Zub found the hole. 1-0 Ottawa.
Goals like this happen. Just don’t do it again, okay?
Best Deja Vu
What I’m about to show you is a different goal than the Zub goal. “Of course you are Lachlan, that’s how time works,” you might be thinking.
I only say that because the Canucks managed to give up the exact same goal 15 Canadian seconds after the first one.
This time, Ottawa won the faceoff even cleaner than the first one! Tim Stützle drew the puck to Drake Batherson, who passed it to the new right defenceman Jordan Spence.
With the first goal still fresh in his head, Lankinen made absolutely sure to seal off the short side opening. But Spence instead shot the puck far side, ripping it past Lankinen’s blocker side.
On the bright side, if shots from the right defender were taken out of the equation, Lankinen and the Canucks wouldn’t have let in anything!
Best Hasek impression
Kevin Lankinen was all over the place in the second period. He had to be, for the Canucks to even have a shot at winning. But his best efforts were a pair of stops straight out of a Greatest Saves VHS from the 90s.
With the Canucks struggling to win even a few puck battles, Brady Tkachuk set up Claude Giroux right in front of the net. The puck landed behind Lankinen’s net and was free for the taking like someone’s couch on the curb. Luckily, Lankinen figured out where it was in time to throw his blocker hand out and push it away before Dylan Cozens could get a stick on it.
With the Sens swarming the Canucks end, Thomas Chabot circled the net and found Drake Batherson winning the battle in front of the net for a deflection. Lankinen made the initial save, but the puck popped up over his head.
Sensing the fact that he’d accidentally become far too important at work, Lankinen swatted the puck out of midair and out of danger.
Lankinen’s teammates owe him a lot more than a steak dinner for his efforts this game and their lack thereof. They also owe him all the BeaverTails he wants when they go skating at the Rideau Canal.
Best Haterade Quencher
There was one Canuck whose line was creating scoring chances. Elias Pettersson’s line with Jake DeBrusk and Linus Karlsson was the only one able to get any offence going and even finished with a net positive in chances. One of the team’s best chances in two periods devoid of them was a 2-on-1 between Karlsson and DeBrusk that Jake rang off the bar behind Meriläinen.
So it makes sense that EP40 would score the Canucks’ only goal early in the third period, thanks to a great forecheck by DeBrusk and Karlsson that forced Cozens into a turnover. Karlsson found Petey waiting by the hashmarks, and he made zero mistakes for his second goal in two days.
Scoring the goal that puts you 10th all-time in Canucks history in the category on the exact same day Darren Dreger says the team is open to trading him is some exceptional work. Say what you will about Petey’s play, the man knows how to move interesting storylines.
Best sneaky tank commander
The Canucks made their trademark “one-goal game with the net empty” push late, but it had a lot less mustard than they usually do. Then Conor Garland accidentally “fell over” and “tripped Artem Zub” with 28 seconds to go, sealing the game.
He even tried to take a second penalty when he smacked Thomas Chabot with his stick after.
Conor is executing a perfect tank for Gavin McKenna’s energy here. He clearly knows he’s going to get a great teammate out of losing those points next year, give him the captaincy as a reward!*
(*Note: “For legal purposes, Mr. Irvine is not actually insinuating Conor Garland or any Canuck player threw the game. The previous remark was purely for comedic purposes and in no ways should be taken seriously.” – CanucksArmy’s lawyers)
Best learning?
Tom Willander had, by all accounts, a tough game against the Canadiens on Monday. That ended up earning him a seat in the Canadian Tire Centre press box, a choice Adam Foote backed up based on wanting to give his young player a rest.
There’s definitely some truth to the idea of rookies needing time to adapt to the grind that is an NHL schedule, especially in an Olympic season. But this energy from Foote can’t be reserved exclusively for the young guns learning on the job. If anything, it should be given more often to the veterans who are not pulling their weight.
Jake DeBrusk got that experience a few weeks ago, but he shouldn’t be the only one to sit. Evander Kane has continued to get far too much ice time for a player with as few points as he’s had. Marcus Pettersson has had an incredibly messy season, more so than Willander or the reassigned DePetey. And Brock Boeser has been so snakebitten over the last 20 games, even he could probably benefit from a night off to reset his frame of mind.
When there’s a total team rebuild going on, you have to be willing to let your young players make mistakes and learn the hard way. Because eventually all the veterans will be gone via trade or otherwise, and these gruelling years will be the ones that make them a whole lot better in the future. A rookie isn’t going to learn much watching from the upper deck or stuck on gate duty on the bench.
If Willander and Co. are the future, don’t waste their present.
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