NHL

Washington Capitals at Vancouver Canucks

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Canucks hold Ovechkin in check, beat Washington 2-1 to end Capitals' winning streak at 6

Quinn Hughes lights the lamp for Canucks

Hughes has five goals and two assists in a five-game points streak.

Defenseman Filip Hronek added two assists, and Kevin Lankinen stopped 32 shots.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for Washington, capping the scoring midway through the third. Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves for the Capitals.

Takeaways Capitals: Ovechkin tested Lankinen just over four minutes into the game when he launched a rocket from the top of the circle off of a faceoff. Lankinen got his elbow into the puck’s path, sending it up into the netting. On Thursday night, Ovechkin scored an empty-netter for his 875th NHL goal. Gretzky had 894.

Canucks: Coach Rick Tocchet mixed up his forward lines, playing star center Elias Pettersson with wingers Nils Hoglander and Linus Karlsson and moving Pius Suter up to skate between Jake DeBrusk and Conor Garland. Defenseman Elias Pettersson, called up from the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks, played his first NHL game.

Key moment Lindgren was on his way to the bench with just over a minute to go in the game when Canucks’ winger Danton Heinen sailed a shot toward the Washington net. The goalie sprinted back and dove to make a glove save.

Key stat Hughes has 57 career goals to tie Ed Jovanovski for the sixth among Canucks defenseman.

Up next The Capitals are at Calgary on Tuesday night. The Canucks are at St. Louis on Monday night to open a three-game trip.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 12:23 Quinn Hughes Goal (13) Backhand, assists: Nils Hoglander (7), Filip Hronek (10)
Goal 2nd Period 1:24 Quinn Hughes Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Brock Boeser (16), Filip Hronek (11)
Goal 3rd Period 12:31 Pierre-Luc Dubois Goal (10) Wrist Shot, assists: Aliaksei Protas (21), Connor McMichael (19)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/van.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originVAN
15 Blocked Shots 19
15 Hits 26
3 Takeaways 4
33 Shots 25
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 2
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
24 Faceoffs Won 20
54.5 Faceoff Win Percent 45.5
19 Giveaways 15
3 Total Penalties 3
6 Penalty Minutes 6
Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Elias Pettersson, C Injured Reserve Dec 14
Teddy Blueger, C Injured Reserve Dec 8
Filip Chytil, C Injured Reserve Dec 6
Derek Forbort, D Injured Reserve Oct 28
Washington Capitals Washington Capitals Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Ryan Leonard, RW Injured Reserve Dec 20

Game Information

Rogers Arena

Location: Vancouver, BC
Attendance: 18,876 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 22 10 47 3
Washington 19 12 42 4
NY Islanders 19 13 42 4
Philadelphia 17 10 41 7
New Jersey 20 14 41 1
NY Rangers 18 15 40 4
Pittsburgh 14 11 37 9
Columbus 14 15 34 6

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Anaheim 21 13 44 2
Vegas 16 7 42 10
Edmonton 17 13 40 6
Los Angeles 15 10 39 9
San Jose 17 16 37 3
Calgary 15 17 34 4
Vancouver 15 17 33 3
Seattle 13 14 32 6
Full Standings