Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko won’t return to tonight’s game after exiting in the first period of the Canucks’ matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team made the official announcement to begin the second period.
Demko exited during a TV timeout in the first period after going to the bench and appearing to inform head coach Rick Tocchet of his status and decision to come out of the game. During the first intermission, the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast showed some footage of Demko appearing to be in discomfort during both warmups and after a save.
Demko made saves on all six Leafs shots he faced through ten minutes of play before exiting. Canucks fans will no doubt be hoping that Demko choosing to exit is more precautionary than anything, as the Canucks don’t play again until February 22nd, with the 4 Nations Face-Off taking place over the next two weeks. The break certainly comes at a good time for Demko.
Demko didn’t make his season debut until December 10th after suffering what he described as a “rare and unique” knee injury in game one of the playoffs against the Nashville Predators. While he initially thought he’d have been able to be back in time for the Canucks’ potential third round matchup against the Dallas Stars, Demko suffered a setback in his offseason recovery, and had to start his season late while nursing and rehabbing the knee injury, which was to his left popliteus.
This latest apparent injury is truly unfortunate for Demko, as he was just starting to look like the Vezina-calibre goaltender Canucks fans have seen before. After struggling to get his save percentage much higher than .880 this season, Demko’s last five starts looked like he had turned a corner. Hopefully he’s not out for long with this one.
Over his past five starts prior to tonight, Demko had a 3-1 record, a 1.25 goals against average, and a .952 save percentage. He also recorded a shutout against the Colorado Avalanche, and nearly did the same against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
We’ll see if head coach Rick Tocchet has an update on Demko post game.