{"id":425754,"date":"2026-01-24T15:50:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/425754\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T15:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:50:18","slug":"canucks-drop-tough-5-4-decision-to-visiting-devils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/425754\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks drop tough 5-4 decision to visiting Devils"},"content":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER \u2013 The Vancouver Canucks are finally getting healthier but that still wasn\u2019t enough for them to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month.<\/p>\n

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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

\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

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\u201cI think the margins for the win were pretty small,\u201d Blueger added. \u201cI mean, you look at Kaner\u2019s shot in the second, goes across the goal-line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think good teams probably find a way to win those and right now, we\u2019re 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

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\u201cThere\u2019s still so much room to work on,\u201d Chytil said. \u201cBecause even if you practise for two months, that\u2019s not a game.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s on me now to go shift by shift, day by day, and work on my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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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

\u201cHe\u2019s very poised with the puck. It\u2019s great to see him back healthy and feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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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

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\u2019s clear they really are playing hard for each other,\u201d Foote said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see. We\u2019ve got to just clean up a few things.\u201d<\/p>\n

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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

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

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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

\u201cIt\u2019s 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

\u201cBut just playing with them, they\u2019re 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

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

\n\t\t&copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2013 The Vancouver Canucks are finally getting healthier but that still wasn\u2019t enough for them to win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5128],"tags":[894,5,285,4,43,893,27,19255,19256,5313],"class_list":{"0":"post-425754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver-canucks","8":"tag-canucks","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-national-hockey-league","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-vancouver","14":"tag-vancouver-canucks","15":"tag-vancouver-hockey","16":"tag-vancouver-sports","17":"tag-vancouvercanucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115950874623207616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425754","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=425754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}