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<\/p>\nVeteran blueliner Filip Hronek came to Buium\u2019s defence Tuesday after he took an ugly hit midway through a tilt with the Los Angeles Kings. <\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
The score was knotted at 3-3 midway through the period when Hronek challenged L.A.\u2019s Mathieu Joseph to a fight. The duo dropped their gloves, exchanged blows and tussled before both were thrown in the penalty box.<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t have to do that,\u201d Buium said. \u201cAnd then you\u2019re willing to go out there and block anything, block a shot with any part of your body. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll of us are really starting to come together and starting to move forward and not track back. And hopefully we can just carry that in the next game and next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canucks (25-48-8) went on to beat the Kings 4-3 in overtime for their third straight victory. <\/p>\n
It was the squad\u2019s first win at home since March 17 when Vancouver handed the Florida Panthers a 5-2 defeat. Tuesday\u2019s victory marked the second time all season the Canucks have won three straight games. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a fluke what happened these last three games,\u201d said Canucks head coach Adam Foote. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese teams are pushing. They all wanted to beat us because of their own destinies. We\u2019re doing things right. We\u2019re playing as a team. They\u2019re sticking to the game plan.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sticking to the game plan hasn\u2019t always been the case this season. <\/p>\n
Extended losing streaks have pockmarked the 2025-26 calendar, including a stretch where the team went 11 games without a win. <\/p>\n
Seeing captain and star defenceman Quinn Hughes traded to the Minnesota Wild in mid-December didn\u2019t help, Foote said. Neither did the rash of injuries that began early in the campaign and continued to mount all year. <\/p>\n
The coach credited some of Vancouver\u2019s veterans \u2014 including Hronek, defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forwards Brock Boeser and Teddy Blueger \u2014 with transforming the mindset after March\u2019s trade deadline. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been getting torn apart as a group for a very long time,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they decided \u2018Hey, this is our team. We know where we\u2019re going. We\u2019re staying here. This is who we\u2019ve got.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Buium believes this is just the beginning. <\/p>\n
The Canucks have just one game left this season: a battle with the Oilers in Edmonton on Thursday. <\/p>\n
This string of positive results can set a foundation and a new standard in Vancouver. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that I think that we all know that we need and that we\u2019re working toward, and everybody wants the same thing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to win games. We want to contend. We want to reach for the stars. And I think that\u2019s the big message, and we\u2019re all just trying to continue to do that.\u201d <\/p>\n
JAKE\u2019S JACKPOT<\/p>\n
Jake DeBrusk tapped in a backdoor shot to seal Vancouver\u2019s victory Tuesday. <\/p>\n
It was the winger\u2019s second goal of the night and his fourth over the last three games. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, I want to end off strong. We all do. It\u2019s been a tough year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s nice to see the puck going (in) the net, some plays are starting to happen and be able to finish \u2026 It\u2019s unfortunate the situation, what it is. I\u2019d like to keep it going, but in saying that, it was nice to contribute in the win tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeBrusk now has 23 goals on the season, including 23 power-play tallies. <\/p>\n
\u201cJake went through a lot of frustration this year. And you could see it,\u201d Foote said, noting the former Boston Bruin isn\u2019t used to missing out on playoff hockey.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems like he\u2019s swinging, too. He\u2019s a streaky guy, too. He\u2019ll score in streaks \u2026 but it seems like he\u2019s having some more fun and he\u2019s buying into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
ONE MORE TIME<\/p>\n
The Kings (35-26-20) are headed back to the playoffs, but must first finish out the regular season Thursday against the Flames in Calgary. <\/p>\n
Interim head coach D.J. Smith said he isn\u2019t planning to change his approach for the 82nd game of the season. <\/p>\n
\u201cOther than guys being banged up, I think we\u2019re going to go with our group and let the chips fall where they may,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t dictate what other teams are going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
L.A. finished Tuesday still sitting in the Western Conference\u2019s second wild-card spot.<\/p>\n
The Kings are tied with the Ducks on points (90), but Anaheim has more wins (42). <\/p>\n
That\u2019s fine by Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you asked me a month ago, in your last 15 games you are going to lose one in regulation, or whatever it is, you\u2019d take it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, at the end of the day, we\u2019re going to go out, do our best and whoever we play, we\u2019re going to play, and we got to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veteran blueliner Filip Hronek came to Buium\u2019s defence Tuesday after he took an ugly hit midway through a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-605584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-vancouver-island","12":"tag-nanaimo","13":"tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","14":"tag-nanaimo-news","15":"tag-nanaimo-news-now","16":"tag-nanaimonewsnow","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-oceanside","19":"tag-parksville","20":"tag-qualicum","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-vancouver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}