Rick Tocchet makes his feelings known about Canucks earning two wins without captain Quinn Hughes

The Vancouver Canucks keep rolling as they won their fifth game out of the last seven when they beat San Jose Sharks 2-1 in overtime, on the road, on Thursday. The Canucks put up a spirited performance despite being without their captain and star Quinn Hughes, who missed his third straight game.

Coach Rick Tocchet relayed his thoughts about the team in the post-game interview when asked about how it has played in their captain's absence. He appreciated the depth of the team's effort, saying:

"Yeah, I mean, that's our team. We can't really have passengers, everybody (has to) contribute, whether you play 10 minutes, 15 minutes or whatever. I thought, like, (Hoglander) line, it was really good tonight. You know, I thought Aman gave us a job. Teddy's (Blueger) line was good. I thought those guys really did a nice job for us."

Hughes suffered a blow during a game against the Dallas Stars last week. After a hit on Evgenii Dadonov, Hughes skated off the ice. He would come back for a brief play but has been out of action since. He didn't have to travel with the team to San Jose.

The Canucks, in their last two games, have been able to put up a strong effort without Hughes. They lost against the Red Wings in overtime, but had a comfortable 3-0 shutout against the Avalanche. They continued that strong defensive effort against the Sharks.

The game remained 0-0 till 8:04 of the third period when Dakota Joshua scored for the road team. Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks late in the period to take it to overtime.

The Canucks, who were looking to avoid their 12th overtime loss of the season, got a lucky penalty shot when Drew O'Connor was hooked by rookie Celebrini Macklin. He would go on to score for the win. Their goalie, Thatcher Demko, also earned his second straight win and made 33 saves in the process.

Canucks GM Patrik Allvin provides an update on Quinn Hughes

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, while appearing on the Canucks Central podcast, stated that the team is monitoring Hughes' condition daily. This comes in light of his expected participation at the much anticipated Four Nations Tournament for Team USA. Allvin said:

"I haven't spoken to Quinn about that. He’s working with our medical staff, and there’s a lot of trust between him and our medical team. He’s doing his rehab, and we’re taking things day by day." [12:33]

Quinn Hughes is the leading goalscorer for the Canucks with 14 goals and is also a contender for the Hart Trophy. He has almost single-handedly kept his team in the playoff hunt. The Canucks have 61 points in 54 games, just one point behind the LA Kings in the third spot in the Pacific Division.