Canucks: Demko stands tall in win over Toronto Maple Leafs

The Vancouver Canucks welcomed the best team in the North division — The Toronto Maple Leafs — to Rogers Arena last night. With Elias Pettersson unable to play, the Canucks shook up their lines and turned to Thatcher Demko hoping he could deliver a top-tier performance.

In his first game back since recording the first regular-season shutout of his career, Demko stood tall, stopping 31 of 32 shots and leading the Canucks past their stiffest competition yet. It was a five-star showing for the 25-year-old, one that suggests he’s ready for the full-time starting position.

That’s a whole different conversation for another time. For now, let’s go over some of Demko’s best plays of the night. Right after we check out how the Canucks opened the scoring. (I won’t be showing all the Canucks’ goals but after Jake Virtanen‘s tough start to the season, this one was worth it)

The Canucks got up on the Leafs early when Virtanen scored his second goal of the season on Vancouver’s first shot of the game. Just a terrific move that you love to see from the seven-year pro.

Virtanen got the Canucks on the board early, but for the most part, it was the Maple Leafs who controlled play in the first period. Peppered with shots, Demko stopped the first 14 before being beaten by Pierre Engvall as the game neared the end of the first frame. All in all, it was a good period for the Canucks, but Demko’s night was far from over.

The middle frame was the “Demko Show” as Vancouver’s netminder turned everyone away, including six shots in the first few minutes from guys like Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Here he is getting a quick save on a dangerous scoring chance from their captain, John Tavares:

Demko put up a wall in the final frame, stopping all seven shots and earning the victory. Here’s another big stop from the game, a quiet but smooth and effective pad-stack down low.

As the game went on, it became more obvious that it was Demko’s world we were tuning into, and he was just allowing the teams in front of him to compete. Here’s another great stop that comes with excellent awareness and near-perfect positioning. A quick dish from the blade of Matthews finds Tavares out front, but Demko wasn’t having it. Take a look.

When the final horn sounded the Canucks celebrated a much-needed win, proving they can take on the best team’s in their division and get away with two points when they need to. Demko finished the contest with a 0.969 save percentage, adding to his impressive hot streak.

“I thought Demmer played a great game, but it didn’t feel like it was a one-sided game. That’s an offensive team [and] you’re going to give up chances. Your goalie’s going to have to make some saves, and I thought Demmer played a great game.” said Travis Green.

He turned down the league’s second-best power play. As well, he stopped all five shots from the NHL’s best scorer, another five from Nylander, and another three from their captain. You can’t ask for much more than that.

“[Demko’s] a great goalie. He played really well tonight, he made a couple of big saves for them. We had some quality opportunities there, especially at the end. He came up big so sometimes you just have to tip your hat.” said Matthews post-game.

It’s Demko Time

Once again, the San Diego California native was able to overcome a solid attack from a potential Stanley Cup contending team. Heading into the contest he was averaging a save percentage of 0.920% over his last 12 starts, and with him clearly not bucking the trend any time soon, maybe Travis Green needs to let him ride this out.

The Canucks battle the Maple Leafs once again on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada. If it was up to me, I’d make it a guarantee that Demko stands between the pipes. He’s been proving he can handle the position he’s in, and he’s making it known that the Canucks made the right choice in choosing him over Jacob Markstrom.

Tune in to Saturday’s game at 4:00 p.m. local time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. The Canucks will look to make it two in a row for the first time in a long time. Be sure to return to The Canuck Way for all of your Canucks news.