The Vancouver Canucks showed why they’re one of the top teams in the league with a 5-0 dismantling of the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Unfortunately, the win came at a cost as starting goaltender Thatcher Demko departed midway through the 2nd period with an undisclosed injury.
Demko, who leads the NHL with 34 wins, left after stopping all 12 shots he faced vs. the Jets, as Casey DeSmith came in to complete the team shutout the remainder of the way. Vancouver did not disclose the nature of the injury, but were quick to rule him out for the evening.
Head coach Rick Tocchet downplayed the severity following the game but conceded that additional testing would likely be needed. “I haven’t talked to the doctor, I don’t think it’s too serious, but I don’t know, I can’t speculate, I haven’t talked to the doctor,” said Tocchet.
The San Diego native dealt with a serious groin injury in 2022-23 which limited him to just 32 contests. In the aftermath of Vancouver’s victory some speculated that it could have been a re-aggravation of that injury.
Regardless, with the team off until Wednesday and only playing 2 games over the next week, the Canucks may opt to err on the side of caution with their Vezina candidate netminder. Currently sporting a .917 SV% and 2.47 GAA, the 28 year old is in the midst of a career year on the west coast.
Vancouver, who currently sit atop the Western Conference standings with 91 points, will lean on DeSmith in the interim to keep the team afloat if Demko is to miss any time.
Photo: The AHL. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.