Instant Reaction: Thatcher Demko’s 38-save magnificence secures unlikely Canucks shootout win
1 year ago
Welcome back to Instant Reaction — the series at CanucksArmy where we give our instant reaction to the game and ask our readers to give theirs in the comments section below! Cody Severtson is writing The Stanchies, and those will be posted later tonight. The Statsies — CanucksArmy’s analytics-based post game report by Mike Liu — will be posted later tomorrow.
We’ll just cut to the chase tonight. Somehow, some way, the Canucks won this game by a final score of 3-2.
Through two periods, the Canucks had six shots on goal. According to John Shorthouse, that ties the Canucks’ franchise record for the fewest shots through 40 minutes of play. When they reached eight, Patrick Johnston jumped in on the fun.
Halfway through the third, the Canucks had just eight shots to the Kings’ 35. Which brings us to the second part of this story.
Thatcher Demko was simply phenomenal tonight, and that comes as a surprise to absolutely nobody. Demko has been stellar since returning from injury, with his “weakest” performance coming Thursday night against the Arizona Coyotes. He was only slightly above average in that game, and as a result, the Canucks’ winning streak was snapped. That’s why it was so nice to see Demko not miss a beat and get right back to his absolutely dominant ways tonight.
Tonight’s Stanchies are sure to be filled with many Demko saves, and for good reason. Somehow, Demko held down the fort long enough for the guys in front of him to tie it up.
And that’s just what Elias Pettersson did when the Canucks were given their first power play of the game.
At the end of regulation, the shot total read 40-14 in favour of the Kings.
Simply put, the Canucks had no business being in this game, but thanks to their elite netminder who’s once again playing like himself, they managed to get this one to overtime!
And overtime was ELECTRIC!
Elias Pettersson nearly ended the game within the first minute, and the Canucks kept pouring on the pressure and the chances. Doing his best impression of Demko, Joonas Korpisalo turned away chance after chance and forced a shootout. The Canucks managed three official shots in OT, while the Kings tested Demko zero times.
Demko turned away both shots he faced, with Kuzmenko and Miller converting on both of their chances to secure the unlikely victory for the Canucks!
What’s your instant reaction to tonight’s game? Let us know in the comments section below!
Recent articles from David Quadrelli
- Instant Reaction: Canucks lose tightly-contested affair vs. Predators, series heads to Nashville for game six
- Instant Reaction: Brock Boeser scores late hat trick and Elias Lindholm scores OT winner as Canucks take game four in Nashville
- Arturs Silovs could start for Canucks in game four as Tocchet hints at game-time decision
