Foote namechecks veterans who stepped up in helping Vancouver Canucks end woeful skid
Nothing has gone right for the Vancouver Canucks lately.
And early in their game against the Washington Capitals, it looked like the misery would continue.
Max Sasson got called for a bizarre holding penalty when, really, his stick was being held by Capitals forward Hendrix Lapierre.
Shortly thereafter, Marcus Pettersson took a high-sticking penalty to give Washington a 5-on-3.
Minutes later, it was 2-0 Capitals.
“When [Marcus Pettersson] got the high stick on the play, it’s like… here we go,” head coach Adam Foote said. “Is this happening right now?
“But, maybe it was meant to give a test to our guys.”
Foote likes to use the word resilient. Well, against Washington, the Canucks were resilient.
For the first time since beating the Minnesota Wild back on Dec. 6, back when Quinn Hughes was still with the Canucks, Vancouver won a home game by beating Washington 4-3.
“I think the best part about it was how our bench was after being down 2-0,” Foote explained. “It was really calm, and you got to give a lot of credit to the guys for not getting rattled.”
The calm attitude was important, considering the Canucks bench boss criticized his team two nights ago for letting frustrations get the better of them.
Among those who stood out, Foote namechecked a few veterans who helped the Canucks end their 11-game winless streak.
“It was one of the best games I saw Garly and Boeser play.”
Best games that Foote has seen them play might be a bit of a stretch, considering both players were playoff heroes for the Canucks 19 months ago. But it was certainly one of the best games in quite some time.
Brock Boeser opened the scoring for the Canucks, with his first even-strength goal since Nov. 28. That’s a stretch of 25 games.
Boeser cuts the deficit in half šÆ pic.twitter.com/GhGfGiz0Zm
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 22, 2026
Boeser also registered an assist on linemate Drew O’Connor’s goal. However, Foote believes his impact extended beyond that.
“[It’s] not just because Boes got points,” Foote said. “He was competing, and he was matched against [Tom] Wilson. Real tough matchup, and he defended well.”
Boeser himself sounded more like a stoic leader postgame, referencing the fact that he and the Canucks veterans need to be good leaders for the rash of young players in the lineup.
“We can’t have that bad body language and the negative attitude on the bench,” he said. “We can’t show that to the young guys. We’ve got to be good leaders and good role models and be positive.”
For Conor Garland, Foote alluded to the fact that having his old linemate, Teddy Blueger, back helped aid his strong performance.
“Yeah, I mean, you’ve got to give credit to Teddy, the work he did. It’s been a long time that he’s missed,” Foote said. “For him to come in and have that much of an impact on a game… really, he looked good out there.”
“It gave Garly a spark, too. They’re used to playing with each other, and it looked like they had something going on there.”
Although they didn’t get on the scoresheet, the line of Blueger, Garland, and Liam Ćhgren dominated the puck possession game. With those three on the ice, the Canucks had 20 shot attempts compared to just two for the Capitals. They accomplished that while largely matched up against Alex Ovechkin’s line.
While winning a bunch of games probably isn’t what Canucks fans want to see, efforts like the one they put forth on Wednesday night should be a non-negotiable, no matter where you are in the standings.