Canucks: 3 takeaways from 4-3 overtime win over Canadiens

Thatcher Demko shines with 37 saves

There was a point in the first period where Demko found himself down two goals to none. The hole left in Markstrom’s absence felt to grow, but Demko stayed calm and cool, fighting an uphill battle with a strong work ethic to bounce back and keep his team in the game. And what a brilliant performance it was!

The rookie goaltender stopped everything he faced until his team found a way to knot it at two. An unlucky give away in the defensive zone, followed by bad puck luck where the frozen biscuit bounced off the skate of a Canuck right onto the tape of Jordan Weal. He picked the top corner, Demko really had no chance. A good effort, not a goal you can blame him for.

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Nonetheless, Demko stayed focused and managed to stop every puck fired his way after that. Stop after stop the saves total kept climbing, the goals against, however, did not. Demko stood tall, shining as the team’s third star, skating off with 37 big ones, and a save percentage reading 0.925%.

Not too shabby for a rookie. Now it’s his time to carry the torch. We all remember the rise of a Stanley Cup-winning rookie goaltender last season, it’s wild, but maybe Demko has what it takes to accomplish similar feats. He proved he can handle a flurry of pucks thrown his way. But, can he continue to play on that high-performance level for 10 or more games? We’ll find out shortly.