Vancouver Canucks star Quinn Hughes came up huge for his team Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres. He also had the entire Rogers Arena going off when he laid out Sabres forward Victor Olofsson with a nasty open-ice hit in the first period.

“You don’t see that much from me. It was a good feeling,” Hughes told reporters following the Canucks' 3-2 victory that also snapped Vancouver's two-game losing skid.

That hit, however, was hardly the only thing Hughes did to inject energy into the crowd during the game. He played a key role in the first score of the contest, as he had an assist (along with Elias Pettersson) on Conor Garland's goal in the opening period. Vancouver then doubled down on its lead in the middle of the second period when Pettersson found the back of the net off of assists from Hughes and JT Miller.

Executing bone-crushing hits isn't exactly what Hughes is known for, but at least during that play against the Sabres, he showed that he can be one tough, physical dude to deal with on the ice.

“That's a message to the rest of the league. Don't go up the middle with Quinn Hughes,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after the contest (h/t Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650).

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It was indeed a great night for Hughe and the Canucks. Hughes came away with third-star honors, while Pettersson and Rasmus Dahlin had the first and second-star honors, respectively.

Hughes is easily one of the chief reasons why the Canucks' offense has been lethal for the most part of the 2023-24 NHL season. He is leading the Canucks with 66 assists to go with 13 goals. His ability to read defenses and spot teammates for great looks at the net also explains a lot of why the Canucks entered Tuesday's date with the Sabres No. 1 in the NHL with a 10.0 percent success rate on shots taken in 5-on-5 situations.

By taking down the Sabres, Hughes and the Canucks improved to 43-18-8 through 69 games this season. That's eight points better than anyone in the Pacific division. Up next for Vancouver is a home game again on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens.