After scoring the opening goal for the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes, Quinn Hughes added an assist on the go-ahead goal with under two minutes left in the third period — scored by Conor Garland.
The assist was his 70th of the season, setting a new single-season franchise record for assists by a defenceman, previously set by — you guessed it — Hughes himself. He tallied 69 assists in 2022-23, but surpassed his own mark with six games left on the Canucks’ regular season schedule.
The milestone also made him part of an active trio as the only three active defencemen with 70 assists in a season — joining Erik Karlsson and Roman Josi.
On top of all of that, with his two-point night, Hughes moved into sole possession of second on the Canucks’ all-time list for points by a defenceman with 327, trailing only Alexander Elder who had 409 points in 925 career games with the Canucks.
In 76 games this season, the 24-year-old has 16 goals and 70 assists for 86 points. He leads all defencemen in points this season in the NHL and sits second on the Canucks behind only J.T. Miller.
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