VANCOUVER \u2014 The Vancouver Canucks are finally getting healthier but that still wasn’t enough for them to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month.<\/p>\n
Two nights after snapping their 11-game winless streak on home ice against the Washington Capitals, the Canucks pushed hard after spotting the New Jersey Devils a 3-0 lead at Rogers Arena before suffering a 5-4 loss.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt felt like a pretty even game,\u201d said Teddy Blueger, who scored his second goal of the year with his team shorthanded to make it 3-2 midway through in the second period. \u201cI thought we had some really good pushes.<\/p>\n
In a close game, the difference could have come down to a scoring chance by Evander Kane late in the second. With the Canucks down 4-3, the potential tying goal rolled along the goal-line behind Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom but stayed out of the net.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the margins for the win were pretty small,\u201d Blueger added. \u201cI mean, you look at Kaner’s shot in the second, goes across the goal-line.<\/p>\n
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“I think good teams probably find a way to win those and right now, we’re not quite there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blueger returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing three months of action with a lower-body injury. On Friday, Vancouver\u2019s centre depth was augmented further when Filip Chytil got back in the action after a 44-game absence following an upper-body injury Oct. 19, the same game where Blueger was lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s still so much room to work on,\u201d Chytil said. \u201cBecause even if you practise for two months, that’s not a game.<\/p>\n
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“It’s on me now to go shift by shift, day by day, and work on my game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chytil played 18 minutes 29 seconds Friday, logging four shot attempts and going 8-for-13 in the face-off circle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Fil was a big boost for us,\u201d said coach Adam Foote. \u201cI thought he looked awesome, made some great plays, entries.<\/p>\n
“He’s very poised with the puck. It’s great to see him back healthy and feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Dec. 22, the Canucks have gone 2-11-2 and now sit seven points below the St. Louis Blues at the very bottom of the NHL standings. Even with the return of the veterans and a determined push to tie the game late Friday, Vancouver\u2019s special teams continue to be a liability.<\/p>\n
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The power play is 0-for-8 over the last four games and the penalty kill has given up eight goals on 15 short-handed attempts over the last five games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s clear they really are playing hard for each other,\u201d Foote said. \u201cIt’s nice to see. We’ve got to just clean up a few things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the streaky Devils are trending back in a positive direction. They won eight-straight games back in October but have also gone through three losing stretches of four games or more.<\/p>\n
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On Jan. 14, GM Tom Fitzgerald took responsibility for his club\u2019s struggles in a media address, just as New Jersey\u2019s fortunes began to improve. The Devils have now won five of their last six games.<\/p>\n
And while they came into Vancouver sitting 30th in the league in goals per game, they matched their season high with five goals scored.<\/p>\n
Three came from a new-look fourth line centred by Cody Glass, who matched his career high with three points, and 21-year-old rookie Lenni Hameenaho, who opened the scoring against Vancouver.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt’s been great,\u201d said Glass, whose 13 goals are now one shy of his career high from 2022-23 with the Nashville Predators. \u201c(Arseny Gritsyuk) and Lenny are super-skilled players, so I try and be a little bit more responsible.<\/p>\n
“But just playing with them, they’re fast guys and protect the puck well, so I just try and let their skill take over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fighting to stay in the mix in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race, the Devils will look to go a perfect four-for-four on their Western road swing when they close out their trip in Seattle on Sunday.<\/p>\n
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The Canucks will continue to look to build on some of the positive momentum they\u2019ve built this week as their homestand continues Sunday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2026.<\/p>\n
Carol Schram, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 The Vancouver Canucks are finally getting healthier but that still wasn’t enough for them to win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5109],"tags":[1774,201,690,5561,5,512,6030,231,576,151,5185,5184,4,100,2686,84,10316,27,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-425603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-jersey-devils","8":"tag-cody-glass","9":"tag-devils","10":"tag-evander-kane","11":"tag-filip-chytil","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-jacob-markstrom","14":"tag-lenni-hameenaho","15":"tag-nashville-predators","16":"tag-new-jersey","17":"tag-new-jersey-devils","18":"tag-newjersey","19":"tag-newjerseydevils","20":"tag-nhl","21":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","22":"tag-seattle","23":"tag-st-louis-blues","24":"tag-teddy-blueger","25":"tag-vancouver-canucks","26":"tag-washington-capitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115950390041084148","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}