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The Stanchies: Canucks end 11-game drought with four goals against Ovechkin’s Capitals
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Lachlan Irvine
Jan 22, 2026, 11:47 ESTUpdated: Jan 22, 2026, 13:32 EST
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Folks, it is OVER.
For the first time since 2025, the Vancouver Canucks are winners, busting an 11-game losing streak with a 4-3 win on home ice over the Washington Capitals. And all it took was four unanswered goals, after falling behind 2-0 in the first ten minutes.
Two of those four goals came off a stellar effort from the David Kämpf line with Brock Boeser and Drew O’Connor, while Jake DeBrusk had the primary assists on both Evander Kane and Fil Hronek’s goals.
Sure, the Canucks were facing a Capitals team that’s been underperforming, sitting outside the playoff bubble and now riding a four-game losing streak on their own. But that doesn’t matter. When you’re firmly planted at the bottom of the standings and even winning on home ice is a chore, you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, the Canucks will be able to take solace in knowing that they swept last season’s best Eastern Conference team in what could’ve been Alex Ovechkin’s last pair of games against them.
Now let’s earn that GIF money. There’s a lot of them today.
Best Grand Return
So how did the Canucks win this game? It’s simple: Teddy Blueger is back for the first time since mid-October!
Right from his very first shift, he was extremely hungry to make an impact. Liam Öhgren found him for a shot by the right circle, but he just can’t get it to go.
Fun fact: when Blueger is in the lineup, the 2025-26 Canucks have an undefeated record of 3-0-0. If he doesn’t get Hart Trophy votes, no one should.
Best Here We Go Again
It sure looked early on like we were in for the usual losing fare. The Canucks went down to three players after Max Sasson and Marcus Pettersson each took penalties within a minute of each other, and the Capitals’ power play got to work with lots of open ice.
Dylan Strome is able to park himself in front of Kevin Lankinen, but behind the coverage of Fil Hronek, Tom Wilson plays decoy before sliding the puck over to Strome for an extremely methodical opening goal.
Most alarmingly, the Capitals had gotten it done fast enough to get Sasson out of the box and keep Dragon in his den.
Best Hometown show
Jeff Paterson
Jeff Paterson
@patersonjeff
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former Vancouver Giant Justin Sourdif holding down some prime real estate between 6'6" Protas and Tom Wilson back in Caps line-up

Bailey Johnson
Bailey Johnson
@BaileyAJohnson_

Lines for the Caps here in Vancouver: McMichael-Strome-Leonard Protas-Sourdif-Wilson Ovechkin-Dowd-Frank Duhaime-Lapierre-Beauvillier Chychrun-Carlson Fehervary-Roy Sandin-TvR Thompson

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I asked for this and I shall accept it. The #Canucks just ain’t good.

— Chris Golden (@lyteforce.ca) 2026-01-22T03:25:12.045Z

You know what’s better than one power play goal? Two power play goals, and this one was courtesy of a local kid impressing in front of friends and family.
Justin Sourdif’s 2025-26 season has been a coming out party for the Richmond native. After only getting into four games in two years as a member of the Florida Panthers, the Caps swooped in to give the former Vancouver Giant a full time role. Sourdif’s absolutely flourished in D.C. with 21 points in 47 games, including an incredible five-point night against the Ducks ten days ago.
Here Ovechkin serves up a pass to Strome, who softly redirects the puck around the coverage of DePetey in front of the net. Sourdif easily taps it home past Lankinen for goal #10 and point #20.
We’re only ten minutes into this hockey game, and yet it already feels like we can chalk that twelfth straight loss up on the board.
Best peak
The great thing about Brock Boeser is that when he scores a goal, you know his next one isn’t too far behind. This goal got lost in the mail for a bit after his slump buster in Columbus, but it still arrived within the usual 5-7 business days.
This goal is largely the work of David Kämpf, who puts some relentless pressure on Rasmus Sandin behind the goal line and knocks the puck away. Kämpf passes the puck to Boeser in the low slot, who catches Team Canada goalie Logan Thompson off guard with a perfect shot over his blocker.
That’s about as vintage a Brock goal as you can get. I don’t want to get ahead of myself by saying he’s absolutely back, but where’s the fun in that?
Best Message Recieved

Guess the vets got the message. #Canucks

— (@flyingfingers.bsky.social) 2026-01-22T03:43:30.176Z

After Monday’s loss to the New York Islanders, Adam Foote did something rarely seen during his time at the helm. He publicly called out his veterans for their mentality when things aren’t going their way. It’s an issue that goes back to the Travis Green and Bruce Boudreau-coached teams and hasn’t let up since.
This game couldn’t have been scripted better to put his players to the test. An early 2-0 deficit after a parade of Canucks were put in the penalty box; an ideal situation for a team to crumble.
But not tonight. In fact, by the time the horn sounded to end the first period, the Canucks had already climbed all the way back, starting with Boeser’s goal and ending with Evander Kane’s in the final two minutes.
There was certainly a bit of puck luck on this one. Kane circles behind the net and tries to feed Elias Pettersson a pass from behind the goal line. The puck doesn’t find EP40, but it does find Martin Fehérváry’s foot and redirects behind a startled Thompson. Brand new game.
Sometimes, smiling through it is all you need.
Best Plates Shifting
As if the referees were replaced with versions of themselves from an alternate universe, the Capitals find themselves down two players early in the second period, like the Canucks had been in the first.
Spoiler alert: the Canucks do not score. But you can see their confidence growing, starting with Tom Willander calling his own number on a shot that knocks the goal stick right out of Logan Thompson’s left hand.
Then EP40 took a shot that rang off the crossbar with a very loud ‘PING’.
To misquote Obi-Wan Kenobi, now that’s a sound I’ve not heard in a long, long time.
Best Supporting Cast
The second line had an excellent night for the Canucks. In particular, Drew O’Connor seemed to get better and better as the game went on. His goal to give the Canucks the lead was a simple matter of being in the right place at the right time. And also catching Logan Thompson napping slightly.
Once again, the play is largely the result of a David Kämpf master class in forechecking, only this time Brock Boeser was the one to seal off the boards first and prevent the Caps’ defence from clearing the zone. Once Kämpf threw a back pass to Run-DOC, he snapped the puck quickly from the bottom of the circle, and Thompson couldn’t squeeze it.
For the Canucks’ sake, it’s great to see O’Connor finding some more confidence. But for Team Canada’s sake a couple weeks from the Olympics, I’m not loving that slightly soft goal from Thompson.
Nobody panic, Canada will be fine. Anyone else sweating a lot?
Best Goal of the Year candidate
Ever since Quinn Hughes got traded, Fil Hronek has been put in much bigger situations than any other point in his NHL career. He’s leading the defence. He’s quarterbacking the top power play. He’s even talking to the media! And he hates talking!
Tonight he scored a goal that would make even the fans saddest for losing Quinn go, “Hughes who?” when he jumped up into the rush on a break he created.
As  Evander Kane and Ryan Leonard both sit in the box with coincidental minors, Tom Willander springs Hronek and Jake DeBrusk on a 2-on-1, thanks to three Capitals players being caught below the goal line.
DeBrusk drew John Carlson away from the net based on seemingly sound logic: ‘surely he’s not going to pass to Hronek!’
He did, and Hronek deflected the puck with a deft hand. 4-2 Canucks.
It’s Fil the Thrill’s world now, and we’re all just living in it.
Best Saved DOC
Drew O’Connor took one look at the Canucks’ two goal lead and knew darn well that might not be enough. So he did everything in his power to try and increase that lead in the third.
First he got in behind John Carlson, but couldn’t get the rolling puck to settle before shooting it over the net. Then he pounced on another loose puck in the slot that Thompson was able to blocker away.
Finally, O’Connor got a short breakaway where Carlson was able to cut off the inside lane, forcing DOC to shoot into Thompson’s pads.
This is the kind of energy that the Canucks are going to need to make the rest of the year interesting. If more players can find a gear like O’Connor did tonight, the home stretch of the season will at least be a lot more entertaining.
Best DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?!

THEY WON?! #Canucks

— Adam Advocaat (@moofey.ca) 2026-01-22T06:02:39.165Z

The Capitals didn’t go entirely quietly into the night. In fact, they put the fear of god into everybody watching by scoring with just over three minutes to go.
After a Marcus Pettersson shot at the empty net missed and got whistled for icing, the Caps immediately won the draw back to John Carlson who put the puck into the sea of players crashing the net.
Justin from Richmond got a few cracks at it before Dylan Strome whacked it past a desperate Lankinen to make it a one-goal game and a fire drill to the finish.
But the Capitals couldn’t find another Grade A scoring chance in time, and the game ended off a failed zone entry by a 40-year-old Alex Ovechkin. The Canucks surround their goalie Lankinen probably more in relief than genuine celebration.
Don’t worry, Team Tank, the Canucks still have a seven point cushion between the second-last Blues and themselves. They’ve earned a victory as a little treat.
Best Legacy
It’s crazy to imagine an NHL without Alexander Ovechkin in it. But that day is coming up quick.
The 40-year-old Ovi will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and with the NHL’s all-time goal scoring record likely his until the sun burns out, it’s hard to imagine what might keep him in the NHL. The allure of another Stanley Cup is likely strong, but the Caps aren’t going to be genuinely competing for their second championship anytime soon.
If this was Ovechkin’s final game in Vancouver, it means a few things. For one, Kevin Lankinen will be able to someday retire fully knowing he didn’t give up a goal to the Great 8. It also means the end of one of the greatest eras in the history of sports. Years of competition out east between Ovi’s Capitals and Sidney Crosby’s Penguins. Some of the best regular season teams of the 21st century. And of course, that magical run to the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Ovechkin had all the superstar skills required to be a face of the league, and he had a whole lot of fun doing it. Very few players have been as automatic at scoring as Ovi was from an offensive zone faceoff dot on a one timer.
Without Ovi, the modern NHL, full of players who grew up idolizing him, would likely look a whole lot different. He’s been a human highlight reel for 20+ years, and the game is so much better for having him play it over that time.
Cheers to you, Ovi.
Best… Jersey Botch?
Gotta give credit where it’s due to Viagra. Putting their logo on a racing jacket is understanding your audience perfectly.

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