And finally, the first win of 2026.

The Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals by a 4-3 scoreline, managing to snap their 11-game losing streak at long last. It wasn’t the most high-action contest of all time, and the teams weren’t exactly lighting each other up at either end. But a cagey contest like this one swinging in the Canucks favour is not a bad thing, and it was also just refreshing to see them win. Ideally, they don’t win too much to ruin their draft position, but a victory here and there wouldn’t hurt too badly.

Here’s the win, by the numbers.

As always, you can find our glossary guide of advanced stats here.

The Canucks looked like they were going to get shelled once more after giving up two goals on the penalty kill in the first. But, somehow, they managed to turn it around and even managed to kill off another penalty to continue their momentum swing. By period’s end, they held a 60.00 CF% share and 54.89 xGF% share, managing to hit a 1.10 xGF in the period as well. That got them right back into the game, and while it would’ve been nice to see them capitalize on their own 5-on-3, the Canucks managed to strike twice to push themselves into the lead. There wasn’t much else going on for the rest of the game, but that was really all Vancouver needed to get this victory over the line.

The heat map is nothing to write home about, though it was nice to see the Canucks not give up a single even-strength goal against. In total, the scoring chances stood at 20-19 for Vancouver, with a slight 9-8 high-danger chance advantage going the way of Washington. It wasn’t a lot of action, suffice it to say, and the majority of high-danger chances for both teams came in the first, where they split a 6-6 battle. After that, there’s really not much else of note, and that seemed to have favoured the Canucks for the victory.

Corsi Champ: Liam Öhgren led the Canucks in CF% with his 78.57, eating up his minutes against… Alex Ovechkin? We’ll dive into that later on, but suffice it to say it was an impressive outing from the young Swede and his linemates. Öhgren recorded the fourth-best xGF% of 79.82 with the third-best 0.77 xGF, on ice for an 8-2 scoring chance lead and 3-1 high-danger chance edge.

Corsi Chump: On the complete other end of the spectrum, Elias Pettersson came in dead last with a 16.00 CF%. While he was on ice for a goal for, the stats were not the kindest to him across the board. Pettersson’s 0.1 xGF was a team-low, posting a team-worst 12.37 xGF%, while giving up a 0-11 hole in scoring chances and 0-4 high-danger chance deficit. Again, he wasn’t actively a liability on the scoreboard, but the percentages were definitely not in EP40’s favour.

xGF: Max Sasson led all Canucks with an 88.62 xGF%, on ice for a team-best 0.03 xGA to help spur that number to the top. He was an absolute engine playing in his bottom-six role, making sure the Capitals couldn’t get much of anything going during his TOI and keeping the momentum going so that the top-six could find the back of the net. Leading the way in raw xGF was Marcus Pettersson, who put up a 1.03 xGF as the top shutdown defenceman the Canucks had to offer.

GSAx: Kevin Lankinen put in a good performance between the pipes for the Canucks. Facing a 3.55 total xGF against the Capitals, he gave up three high-danger goals against for a 0.55 GSAx. It was everything the Canucks needed in order to win this game, as he stayed perfect on the gimme chances and managed to balance out the high-danger goals conceded. It could’ve been worse, and Lankinen made sure that the Canucks were properly on track to get their first win of 2026.

Overlooked but not undervalued: They might not have found the scoresheet last night, but the contributions of the Öhgren – Blueger – Garland against the Capitals cannot be understated. They were absolutely dominant in their 9:37 together, being deployed across a wide variety of Washington’s lineup and seeing equal success against all comers. They led all Canuck forward lines with a 90.91 CF%, 0.75 xGF, 0.03 xGA, and 95.56 xGF%, while managing to hold an 8-0 lead in scoring chances and a 3-0 high-danger chance advantage. They were the only unit not to give up a single scoring chance against any danger type. Putting up these kinds of numbers can’t be overlooked as a big contributing factor to the Canucks win, even if they couldn’t manage to score.

Properly using your pairings: Look what happens when you deploy defencemen correctly. Tom Willander finally got moved off his off-side, paired with Marcus Pettersson, and the two produced some very good numbers together. The duo were used heavily in a top-four capacity, recording a very solid 64.00 CF% and 76.61 xGF%, on ice for two goals for and zero goals against. They only gave up two high-danger chances all night, which is a world of sight better than what they had been giving up in previous games.

The Canucks battled in this one, and that’s a whole sight better than what they had been doing during their 11-game losing streak. They weren’t perfect by any means, but the Canucks weren’t bleeding chances or giving up too much ground, which gave them a much better chance to win this hockey game. Again, ideally, they don’t go on too long a winning streak that’ll wreck their draft position, but playing the right way, building proper habits, even as this team continues to lose, will go a long way toward setting a better foundation.

Vancouver hosts the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.