Even though they were shutout at home on Monday night, goaltending was certainly a hot topic of conversation after the Vancouver Canucks‘ 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Kevin Lankinen allowed three goals on 13 shots and was pulled for the start of the third period, with Nikita Tolopilo playing the final 20 minutes of the game with the Canucks down by three. Tolopilo turned aside all six chances he faced, raising his season save percentage to .911. Here’s what Canucks head coach Adam Foote had to say post game about the decision to pull Lankinen.

“I thought he was a little off even though we did have mistakes. The one where we doubled up; he had the tip where the guy was alone. I thought it would also give the guys a little bit of a spark goign into the third. Lanks has been a good pro and sometimes it’s just not your night. It wasn’t all on him, he was left alone a couple of times, but just thought I’d see if we could get the guys going.”

Later in his press conference, Foote was asked about Tolopilo and the possibility that it will be him — not Lankinen — who starts on Thursday when the Buffalo Sabres roll into town.

“Well, [there’s a] large percentage that Demko will be going Thursday, probably,” said Foote. “Demko’s probably going to be back for us.”

Demko has been working hard to return since exiting the Canucks’ November 11th game against the Winnipeg Jets after the first period. Demko started the season as one of the league’s top goaltenders, as he posted a .926 save percentage through seven starts in the month of October. Demko’s first three starts of November were less favourable, as he posted an .828 save percentage prior to exiting the Canucks’ game against the Jets.

The Canucks have struggled in Demko’s absence, as they’ve won just three of the 12 games Demko has missed. Despite missing nearly a month of the season, Demko still leads all Canucks goaltenders in wins with five.

The Canucks are set to practice today, and we’d expect to see Demko on the ice as a full participant. We’ll have more in today’s edition of Scenes from Canucks Practice, so stay tuned!