Yahoo Sports Takeaways From The Canucks Five-Game January Road Trip
The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their five-game road trip by laying an egg against the Winnipeg Jets. Vancouver’s gauntlet saw them play the surging Montreal Canadiens, three division leaders, and an impressive foe in the Carolina Hurricanes.
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The schedule wasn’t favourable to the Canucks, who began the road trip without Elias Pettersson. Still, a lack of scoring throughout the lineup and spotty defence sees Vancouver heading home with a 1-2-2 record through five contests and outside a playoff spot.
Lankinen Holds His Own
Sports are unfair. The lasting memory of Kevin Lankinen from this road trip will be him gifting a goal to the Winnipeg Jets after sending an errant pass to Gabriel Vilardi and getting hit with a six-spot at Canada Life Centre.
Despite his uncharacteristic showing — where he still made 27 saves — Lankinen started four of five games, earned a shutout against the well-rested Toronto Maple Leafs on Hockey Night In Canada and kept Vancouver in most games on the road trip. Even against the Jets, Lankinen stifled Winnipeg on multiple prime chances.
Photo by Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Each passing day is a reminder of why Lankinen deserves a contract extension. But with or without Lankinen, it’s hard for Vancouver to win hockey games when averaging 1.8 goals over a five-game span and conceding nearly double that.
Canucks Struggling To Score
Outside of a sensational effort against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and a four-point outburst from J.T. Miller against the Montreal Canadiens, the Canucks offence scored more than one goal in a game just twice on this road trip.
Aside from Quinn Hughes — who had five points in five games — Vancouver’s top guns failed to find consistent offensive production.
Jake DeBrusk, who began the season on fire and was lightning-hot at the start of December, notched just one goal over the last five games. Since the calendar rolled into the New Year, the Canucks free agent acquisition has two points through seven games.
Like DeBrusk, Brock Boeser has a mere two points this calendar year. J.T. Miller hasn’t scored in four straight, and Pettersson has scored once in three contests since returning to the lineup.
Vancouver sits one point back of the Calgary Flames for the second wildcard spot. Filip Hronek returning to the lineup should help Vancouver find additional scoring from the blue line, but it’s on their offensive weapons to produce.
Hronek Is Back
Hronek — who appeared in his first game since suffering an injury against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 27 last night — opened the match alongside Quinn Hughes.
"He did good, I mean it definitely wasn't an easy game to play in," Hughes said following the Canucks 6-1 loss to the Jets. "I don't think anyone played well, but we missed him. He defends hard, he competes and he cares."
Photo by Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Hronek added stability to a reeling blue line. Hronek played 20:50 on Tuesday, the second most of any Canuck. At five-on-five, he was the only defenceman with an xGF% above 50, with 50.64, per Natural Stat Trick. Hronek conceded seven shots against at five-on-five, the second lowest among all Vancouver defencemen, threw three hits and recorded two blocks.
"He was fine," head coach Rick Tocchett said regarding Hronek's game following Tuesday's contest. "It's tough to be out for two months, so he was fine."
Hronek made simple passes in the defensive zone, chipped pucks out of danger and ushered away loose rebounds. He wasn't particularly noticeable, but given the Canucks lost by five and this was his first game in nearly two months, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Tonight is the first time #Canucks have a healthy Hronek, Demko, Pettersson, Miller, Boeser, and Hughes together this season.
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) January 14, 2025
There were moments when Hronek was a tad aggressive in his pinches and it goes without saying that a 6-1 slugging at the hands of the Jets reflects poorly on the 27-year-old. Still, his return is encouraging for a Canucks team outside of a playoff spot and needing defensive reinforcements.
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