The first Hughes Bowl of the season was a one-sided affair on Thursday night, with Jack and Luke Hughes and the New Jersey Devils crushing brother Quinn and his Vancouver Canucks 6-0 at Rogers Arena.

Most of the Canucks had games to forget in front of the home crowd, although JT Miller was one of the better forwards throughout the night. The veteran was not at all pleased with his club's performance afterward.

“We make it way too easy on the other team,” Miller told reporters. “I think (there's) not enough ‘F you' in our game. We haven't played 60 minutes to our identity yet this year.”

“It was embarrassing. We should be embarrassed,” defenseman Tyler Myers echoed, per NHL.com's Kevin Woodley. “Even through some wins the last couple weeks, there are some things within our game right now that we’ve got to clean up, and we’ve got to find our identity.”

The Devils scored just 53 seconds into the game, and that's all New Jersey would need on Wednesday night. Not even a rare Conor Garland fight against Erik Haula midway through the second period could motivate his teammates.

“Garland does an unbelievable job in that scrap, that was a hell of a fight,” said Miller. “You'd think maybe we'd play a little better after that … That sucks. A guy gets punched in the head for you, and you think maybe that would light [a fire under] the team.”

The scrap didn't have the desired effect, with the Devils scoring again in the second period before adding two more in the final frame. The game never really felt close, with Vancouver managing just 20 shots on Jacob Markstrom throughout the night.

“We need to buckle down, we need to get some leadership here to make sure that we're ready to play,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet. “And myself, it's on me, too.”

The bench boss continued: “Everything went wrong, right from the beginning. And then, obviously, some guys were struggling, and it just rolls like that. You're going to have games like this in an 82-game schedule. We’ve just got to flush it down the toilet right now.”

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With that, the Canucks fall to 1-1-3 on the 2024-25 campaign in front of the home crowd. Although they've been much better on the road, it's surprising considering the club's success at Rogers Arena last season.

Canucks struggling at home

Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) reacts after New Jersey scored a shorthanded goal in the second period at Rogers Arena.
Bob Frid-Imagn Images

It's been a difficult stretch at home, but despite the Rogers Arena woes, the Canucks are still 4-2-3 and third place in the Pacific Division. They remain just four points back of the first place Vegas Golden Knights with two games in hand.

Vancouver also boasts the league's ninth best 5-on-5 expected goals for percentage and 12th best scoring chances for percentage, per Natural Stat Trick. It certainly hasn't been a bad start for the team, but a two-game losing streak isn't encouraging.

The Canucks will take a little break from British Columbia, heading on a three-game California road trip beginning on Saturday. Vancouver will play the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings over the next week.

After that, it'll be back to Rogers Arena for a six-game homestand from November 9-19.