TORONTO (AP) — Kevin Lankinen made 20 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the seventh of his career, Quinn Hughes had a goal and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 on Saturday night.
Brock Boeser and Kiefer Sherwood also scored goals while Tyler Myers had two assists for Vancover, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby (35) looks on as Maple Leafs' Chris Tanev, left, and Vancouver Canucks' J.T. Miller (9) battle for the rebound during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks' Teddy Blueger (53) passes the puck as Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, right, defends on during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (centre) celebrates with Kiefer Sherwood (44) and Danton Heinen (20) after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Maple Leafs' Matthew Knies (23) controls a bouncing puck as Vancouver Canucks' Tyler Myers (57) and goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) look on during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, January 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) makes a save against the Toronto Maple Leafs during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Dennis Hildeby stopped 15 shots for the Leafs, who were coming off Thursday’s 6-3 road loss in Carolina that snapped a five-game winning streak.
Boeser put Vancouver up 1-0 just 31 seconds into the game when he tipped in the game’s first shot off a Myers effort from the point.
Hughes doubled Vancouver’s lead late in the second period on a delayed penalty before Sherwood made it 3-0 early in the third.
Canucks: Coach Rick Tocchet said the team didn’t land in Toronto until noon and arrived at its hotel around 2 p.m. despite a police escort from the airport.
Leafs: Hildeby made his fifth career start with Joseph Woll getting the night off. His last appearance was a 30-save performance in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 5. Anthony Stolarz, who had great numbers to open the season splitting time with Woll, remains on injured reserve with a knee issue that required surgery last month.
Vancouver was set to go on its first power play late in the second, but Hughes stretched the visitors’ lead to two when the captain scored his ninth on a shot that caromed in past Hildeby.
The Canucks entered Saturday's game having dropped six of their last seven games (1-3-3) and had just one regulation victory since mid-December.
Canucks: Conclude a five-game road trip Tuesday night in Winnipeg.
Maple Leafs: Continue a three-game homestand the same night against the Dallas Stars.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Dennis Hildeby (35) looks on as Maple Leafs' Chris Tanev, left, and Vancouver Canucks' J.T. Miller (9) battle for the rebound during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks' Teddy Blueger (53) passes the puck as Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, right, defends on during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (centre) celebrates with Kiefer Sherwood (44) and Danton Heinen (20) after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Maple Leafs' Matthew Knies (23) controls a bouncing puck as Vancouver Canucks' Tyler Myers (57) and goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) look on during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, January 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) makes a save against the Toronto Maple Leafs during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lamar Jackson thought it was over. That the Baltimore Ravens' unwieldy season would end up in a familiar spot: the playoffs.
Then, rookie kicker Tyler Loop's potential game-winning field goal from 44 yards out drifted a little right. And then a little further right. And then a little further right still.
By the time it fluttered well wide of the goalposts, the playoffs were gone. So was Jackson's certainty after a 26-24 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday night sent the Ravens into what could be a turbulent offseason.
“I'm definitely stunned, man,” Jackson said. “I thought we had it in the bag. ... I don't know what else we can do.”
Jackson, who never really seemed fully healthy during his eighth season as he battled one thing after another, did his part. The two-time NFL MVP passed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, including two long connections with Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter that put the Ravens (8-9) in front.
It just wasn't enough. Baltimore's defense, which played most of the second half without star safety Kyle Hamilton after Hamilton entered the concussion protocol, wilted against 42-year-old Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards, including a 26-yard flip to a wide-open Calvin Austin with 55 seconds to go after a defender slipped, symbolic of a season in which Baltimore's defense only occasionally found its form.
Still, the Ravens had a chance when Jackson found Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain on fourth down from midfield. A couple of snaps later, the 24-year-old Loop walked on to try to lift Baltimore to its third straight division title.
Instead, the rookie said he “mishit” it. Whatever it was, it never threatened to sneak between the goalposts.
“It’s disappointing,” Loop said.
Loop was talking about the game. He might as well have been talking about his team's season.
The Ravens began 1-5 as Jackson dealt with injuries and the defense struggled to get stops. Baltimore found a way to briefly tie the Steelers for first in late November, only to then split its next four games, including a home loss to Pittsburgh.
Still, when Jackson and the Ravens walked onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Sunday night in the 272nd and final game of the NFL regular season, Baltimore was confident. The Ravens drilled Pittsburgh in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago behind the ever-churning legs of running back Derrick Henry.
When Henry ripped off a gain of 40-plus yards on the game's first offensive snap, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. While Henry did rush for 126 yards and joined Hall of Famer Barry Sanders as the only running backs in NFL history to have five 1,500-yard seasons, he was less effective in the second half.
Even that first run was telling of what night it was going to be, as an illegal block by wide receiver Zay Flowers cost Baltimore some field position. The Ravens ended up scoring on the drive anyway, thanks to a 38-yard fourth-down flip from Jackson to a wide-open Devontez Walker, but it started a pattern that was hard to shake as several steps forward were met with one step back on a night the Ravens finished with nine penalties for 78 yards.
“We were having a lot of penalties, which kept stopping drives," Jackson said. “But I'm proud of my guys because we kept overcoming. We kept overcoming adversity and situations like this. Divisional games (can) be like that sometimes.”
Particularly when the Steelers are on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Pittsburgh has won 10 of the last 13 meetings. And while a handful of them have been in late-season matchups with the Ravens already assured of reaching the playoffs, the reality is the Steelers have been able to regularly do something that most others have not: found a way to beat Jackson.
“It comes down to situations like this,” Jackson said. “Two-point conversion one year. Field goal another year. And again this year. Just got to find a way to get that win here.”
And figure out who is going to be around to help get it.
Head coach John Harbaugh's 18th season in Baltimore ended with the Ravens missing the playoffs for just the second time in eight years. Jackson turns 29 this week and is still one of the most electric players in the league.
Yet Harbaugh and Jackson have yet to find a way to have that breakthrough season that Harbaugh enjoyed with Joe Flacco in 2013 when the Ravens won the Super Bowl.
There was hope when the season began that the roadblocks that have long been in the franchise's way — Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes chief among them — would be gone.
While the Ravens did get their way in a sense — the Chiefs will watch the playoffs from afar for the first time in a decade after a nightmarish season of their own — it never all came together.
Jackson declined to endorse Harbaugh returning for a 19th season, saying the loss was still too fresh to zoom out on what it might mean for the franchise going forward.
Harbaugh, for his part, certainly seems up for running it back in the fall.
“I love these guys,” he said afterward. “I love these guys.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, hands the ball off to running back Derrick Henry (22) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh talks with an offical during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Justin Berl)
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, left, greets Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers (40) reacts after Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) missed a field goal attempt in the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
