Home Ice, First Goals: Vancouver's Own Glenn Gawdin Scores Twice as the Rangers Rout the Reeling Canucks, 5-1

Some nights in hockey are about more than two points. On Friday in Vancouver, Glenn Gawdin scored the first two goals of his NHL career in the city where he grew up, and the New York Rangers rode a four-goal second period to a 5-1 win over the Canucks, according to Field Level Media's game report. The loss was Vancouver's seventh in a row.

Gawdin's path to Friday's breakthrough was a long one. He grew up in Vancouver and had only brief stints in the NHL with the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks before this season. The Rangers signed him to a two-year, two-way contract in July 2026, after he spent the previous two seasons in the Los Angeles Kings' organization without playing an NHL game, according to the team's announcement and RotoWire's player file.

That is the kind of story that makes hockey special. A player grinds through the minor leagues, keeps showing up, keeps working, and finally gets his moment in front of friends and family in his own hometown arena. Persistence like that deserves to be celebrated.

The other goal scorers for New York were Alexis Lafreniere, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Gabe Perreault. Elias Pettersson scored Vancouver's lone goal.

Gawdin was not the only Ranger with British Columbia roots enjoying the night. Goaltender Dylan Garand, a Victoria native, returned to his home province to face the Canucks amid a strong start to his season, the New York Post reported ahead of the game. Garand stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced. At the other end, Vancouver's Leevi Merilainen made 26 saves.

Garand's season has been its own comeback story. The 24-year-old was placed on waivers by the Rangers before the season and went unclaimed, then became New York's presumptive starter when star goaltender Igor Shesterkin was lost for the season with a lower-body injury in October, the Associated Press reported at the time. In the Rangers' first game after that news, Garand made 19 saves in a 6-2 home win over these same Canucks on Oct. 11. A month later, he beat them again, this time in front of a crowd from his home province.

The night also had an edge. J.T. Miller, the former Canucks forward now with the Rangers, was booed by the Vancouver crowd throughout the game and had words for Pettersson as Pettersson skated off the ice after New York's first goal, according to the game report.

For New York, the win capped a strong road swing. The Rangers took three of four games on their trip, have won five of their last six and improved to 12-8-1. The four-goal second period, recorded in the official box score, turned Friday's game into a rout.

The Rangers' depth was on display. A team that gets goals from a journeyman like Gawdin and steady goaltending from a young netminder like Garand is a team that can survive the grind of a long season. Those are the nights that add up in April.

The Canucks' slide, meanwhile, keeps getting deeper. Vancouver has lost 17 of its last 18 games and sits at 3-17-1, the worst record in the NHL. On Friday, it was the second period that got away from them. Vancouver is in its first season under coach Manny Malhotra, who was already facing a 2-5-0 start when the Rangers beat his team in October.

For Vancouver fans, the question is no longer about the playoff race. It is about where the bottom is, and what changes the front office is willing to make to turn things around.

The Rangers return home to host the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. The Canucks head to Las Vegas to face the Golden Knights on Sunday night as they try to snap their seven-game skid.

For one night, though, the headline belonged to a hometown kid who never quit. Glenn Gawdin waited a long time for his first NHL goal. He got two of them, at home, and his team won going away.