Canucks rally from 2-goal deficit to beat Capitals, snap 11-game winless streak

After losing 11 straight games, the Vancouver Canucks celebrated their first victory of 2026 on Wednesday night.

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks erased a 2-0 deficit and snapped an 11-game winless streak with a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

Brock Boeser, Evander Kane, Drew O’Connor and Filip Hronek scored for the Canucks (17-28-5) at Rogers Arena. Kevin Lankinen made 29 saves in Vancouver’s first win since Dec. 29 against the Seattle Kraken.

Dylan Strome scored twice and Justin Sourdif added another goal for the Capitals (24-21-6), who lost their fourth straight. Logan Thompson stopped 21 shots.

The Capitals took an early 2-0 lead thanks to two first-period power-play goals.

On a 5-on-3 advantage, John Carlson threaded the puck down to Tom Wilson at the goalmouth. He slid the puck across to a wide-open Strome, who tapped it into the open cage with 11:35 left in the first.

Alex Ovechkin then fed a cross-ice pass to Strome, who put the puck on net before Sourdif hammered home his 10th of the season.

Boeser put his team on the board by deflecting an end-boards pass from David Kampf past Thompson for his 11th of the season. With 1:38 remaining in the opening frame, Kane tied the game with a wraparound that bounced off the skate of Capitals defender Matt Roy.

Vancouver gained its first lead of the night when O’Connor converted from the low slot. Hronek finished a give-and-go with Jake DeBrusk three minutes later to make it 4-2, before Strome scored his second of the night with 3:23 remaining.

Takeaways

Canucks: Teddy Blueger rejoined the lineup after missing three months with a lower-body injury. To make room for the Latvian forward, Vancouver scratched Aatu Raty and reassigned Arshdeep Bains to AHL Abbotsford.

Capitals: Wilson returned after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.

Key moment

After coach Adam Foote challenged his veterans to step up following Vancouver’s 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Monday, Boeser’s goal at 13:32 in the first period kicked off four unanswered Canucks goals by veteran players.

Key stat

The win was just the fifth of the season on home ice for the last-place Canucks.

This report by Carol Schram, The Canadian Press, was first published Jan. 21, 2026.