The Canucks defeated the Maple Leafs 6-4 on Saturday night.

The Vancouver Canucks (31-11-4) continued their winning ways as they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs (22-14-8) 6-4 at Rogers Arena on Saturday night. The game was part of Scotiabank's Hockey Day In Canada, which was hosted in Victoria, B.C., and featured three all-Canadian matchups sprinkled throughout the day. With the victory, Vancouver improved their record when leading after two periods to 28-0-1 and have now won seven of their last eight games. 

This game was chaotic for multiple reasons. The Canucks scored six goals despite only registering 21 shots, were outshot by 25, yet still won; meanwhile, Tyler Myers got into a fight with two Maple Leafs players at the same time near the end of the game. Add in the fact that the crowd was in a frenzy throughout, and you have a playoff-type atmosphere despite it only being mid-January. 

One of the biggest from this game was Vancouver's depth players contributing to the scoresheet. While The Lotto Line eventually picked up their game, it was Nils Höglander and Conor Garland, as well as their linemates, that set the tempo early and made life extremely difficult for Toronto throughout the game. These types of performances from the bottom-six are what separates the contenders from the pretenders and will be vital come playoff time if the Canucks do have their sites on a long postseason run. 

Here are head coach Rick Tocchet's comments after the game:

"Great first. It was as good as you can get. Second, we weren't connected. The Leafs are a good team. They started coming at us, and I thought we were spread out. We were chasing the puck a little bit, and then third period, obviously, the power play was big. I thought a key moment after Marner made that great shorthanded goal, I liked the calmness of Milsey (Miller). They said ok, ok, we got it, we got it, and they got it. There wasn't a lot of panic, so I give them a lot of credit for not getting pissed off and then getting frustrated."

Stats and Facts

- Nils Höglander sets a new career high with his 14th goal of the season

- Quinn Hughes becomes the sixth defenceman in NHL history to record three or more assists in seven or more games during one season

- Quinn Hughes' 25th career 3+ point game ties Andre Boudrias for the 16th most in franchise history

- The Canucks scored two power-play goals in each game against the Toronto Maple Leafs this season

Scoring Summary

1st Period

VAN: 3:06- Nils Höglander (13th) from Sam Lafferty and Quinn Hughes

VAN: 6:00- Nils Höglander (14th) from Nils Åman and Conor Garland

VAN: 12:58- Conor Garland (7th) from Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua

2nd Period

TOR: 4:53- William Nylander (22nd) from Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie

TOR: 7:26- Jake McCabe (3rd) from Mitch Marner and Austin Matthews

TOR: 8:19- William Nylander (23rd) from Morgan Rielly

VAN: 19:00- Conor Garland (8th) from Teddy Blueger 

3rd Period

TOR: 3:13- Mitch Marner (20th) (SHG)

VAN: 7:11- J.T. Miller (21st) from Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson (PPG)

VAN: 10:42- Elias Pettersson (25th) from J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes (PPG)

Canucks Next Opponent 

Up next for Vancouver will be a battle against the Chicago Blackhawks. While Canucks fans are disappointed they won't get to see Connor Bedard, they will get to see up-and-coming stars like Kevin Korchinski and Lukas Reichel hit the ice on Monday night. Game time is set for 7:00 PM PT from Rogers Arena. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

Two More Canucks Will Participate In The NHL All-Star Skills Competition

Breaking Down The 2023-24 Canucks Shooting And Goal-Scoring With NHL EDGE 45 Games In

Canucks Executives Discuss State Of Elias Pettersson's Contract Extension

Report: Buble, Hughes Set To Team Up At The 2024 NHL All-Star Game

Canucks Announce Three-Year Extension For Jim Rutherford

Canucks Defenseman Quinn Hughes Has Dominated The Pacific Division