Canucks Recap: Three stars of the week (Mar 13th – 19th)

1. Thatcher Demko

Take a bow, Thatcher Demko.

The 25-year-old netminder started in all four contests this past week, and, quite frankly, was the main reason that the team was able to collect all eight points from those games. He was peppered with 179 shots total, including 46 from the Senators on Monday night, but still stood tall and mighty between the pipes.

His rebound control, puck awareness and overall positioning have been solid in the month of March, and he continues to come up with key saves in tight situations to help keep his club afloat and in the hunt for two points each night.

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Oh, and you can now add a shootout scorpion save to his growing list of highway robberies this season:

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There’s no doubt that the Canucks are still coughing up high-danger scoring chances at even strength, as well as on the penalty kill and powerplay (cue the numerous shorthanded opportunities from the other team), and they continue to be badly outshot and out-chanced for the majority of their games, much like they were in February.

In theory, the Canucks shouldn’t be in the position that they are today, but that’s what happens when you receive tremendous goaltending, and that’s exactly what Demko has been delivering night in and night out.

He is currently riding a four-game win streak, sporting an eye-popping .951 save percentage and 1.69 GAA over that span, and continues to lead the league in total shots against.

It didn’t take long for the Twitterverse to shower more love and admiration onto the Canucks’ saving grace in the crease throughout the week, with many supporters proudly stating that “Bubble Demko” has triumphantly returned to haunt the dreams of his Canadian foe.

And although there’s no doubt that Demko has been playing out of his mind lately, it’s about time we give #35 the respect he deserves by putting the Bubble Demko comparisons to bed.

Demko has played in eight straight contests for the team, posting seven wins to go along with a .945 save percentage and 1.95 GAA. And yes, these statistics include the 5-1 thumping his team received from the Montreal Canadiens on March 10th.

You could argue that this current stretch of hockey has been infinitely better than anything that we saw from Jacob Markstrom over the past two seasons, and it has reassured fans that our goaltending will be the least of our worries for the foreseeable future.

In other words, Demko is the real deal.

He’s earned every minute of ice-time with his stellar netminding, proving that his most recent playoff performance wasn’t just a one-off outing, and the crease officially belongs to him.

Once again, Demko has proven to be the team’s most consistent and dominant Canuck as of late, and his recent Vezina-calibre style of play has injected a much-needed and noticeable combination of confidence and drive into the players in front of him.

If the Canucks do miraculously appear in the playoff picture in May, it’ll be on the shoulders of Demko.

2. J.T. Miller

Simply put, J.T. Miller has been clutch this past week.

The team entered Saturday’s contest still without the services of elite sniper Elias Pettersson, who appears to be battling a possible wrist injury, which meant that the Canucks needed to fill the centre void on their first line once again.

Miller, who previously played that position during his tenures with the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, had been slotting into the number one centre role for the past four games, so it was no surprise that head coach Travis Green didn’t tweak his line combinations going into the game against Connor McDavid and company.

Miller registered a powerplay assist to help open the scoring that night, and ended up logging just over 21 minutes en route to the team’s victory.

It appeared that Miller’s overall gameplay was improving after transitioning back to the middle and playing alongside Brock Boeser and Nils Höglander, and he was becoming the consistent offensive threat that we became accustomed to last year.

He entered Monday night’s contest only two points behind Boeser for the team lead in scoring, as well as first in team powerplay points with 14. Defensively-speaking, he was showing signs of improvement on his overall 200-foot game with hard hits and good forecheck, something he had struggled mightily with for the majority of the season thus far.

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But, as we all know, the real excitement was about to ramp up from there.

Miller scored two overtime winners in three games to propel the Canucks to victories over the Senators and Canadiens.

First, he disposed of an Ottawa forward with ease before undressing Joey Daccord in jaw-dropping fashion, only to outshine himself four nights later with an individual, end-to-end performance for his 100th point as a Canuck that is sure to land on every highlight reel for the foreseeable future.

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More importantly, of course, Miller’s game-winning tallies ensured that his team would be able to collect the full two points from each of those contests to aid them on their hopeful journey back into the playoff conversation.

As it stands, the Scotia North division is undoubtedly the closest division in the league, and each team knows that every point counts. It would’ve been more ideal if the Canucks had been able to take care of Ottawa and Montreal in regulation, but we all know that this team still has difficulties playing for the full 60 minutes, and it’ll take a while to fix.

Nonetheless, the Canucks can still be happy with their point accumulation on the road trip so far.

And if they end up squeaking into the playoffs by a point or two, which many expect to be the case for whichever team lands the fourth and final playoff spot, the city of Vancouver should look back on Miller’s overtime heroics as an absolute game-changer.

3. Bo Horvat

Bo Horvat continues to be a leader on this team.

He has posted 13 goals and 11 assists in 30 games so far, which places him fourth on team scoring, and he currently leads the Canucks with six powerplay goals.

Of course, Horvat’s current campaign has been littered with a few scoreless streaks here and there, and, much like Miller, he has been on the wrong end of some truly disastrous defensive miscues.

But, when push comes to shove, you can’t argue against the fact that Horvat has the ability to come up with big plays when his team needs him the most, and this was on full display this past week.

Over the past four games, Horvat averaged just under 21 minutes of ice time, registering seven shots and a plus-three rating during that span. Much like the last few seasons, he hasn’t been able to consistently play with the same linemates, especially with injuries to Pettersson and, more recently, Tanner Pearson, and has centred wingers such as Boeser, Jake Virtanen, and even newcomer Jimmy Vesey.

Like a true pro, however, that hasn’t stopped #53 from producing every time he steps over the boards.

Horvat has registered four points in his last four games, and has been able to find his way onto the scoresheet with a combination of tallies and helpers, including two nifty plays on Wednesday night:

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Horvat also hasn’t been afraid to battle along the boards or drive hard to the net, two encouraging signs of a determined, tough leader, and he was rewarded with what could easily be described as the greasiest goal in franchise history as a result:

Oh, and did we mention that Horvat isn’t afraid to throw his weight around to ignite a spark in his team or to stick up for a linemate? Brady Tkachuk learned that tidbit the hard way.

Much like the other big guns, Horvat will need to continue his strong play for the remainder of the season if the Canucks want to play even more meaningful hockey in May, but he hasn’t shown signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Honourable Mentions: Alex Edler and Travis Hamonic

Alex Edler and Travis Hamonic have not been afraid to lay their bodies on the line.

The two veteran defencemen have combined for 25 shot blocks over the last four games, including four shot blocks in just under three minutes from Edler during the Oiler’s third-period push on Saturday night.

The Canucks managed to squeak away with the victory, but that might not have been the case had it not been for Edler.

There’s no doubt that #23 and #27 still struggle defensively at times, but they’ve been willing to sacrifice their bodies in critical situations, and Canucks fans are hoping this can continue for the remainder of the season.

Upcoming games:

• Saturday, March 20th – Vancouver Canucks @ Montreal Canadiens (4:00pm PST)
• Monday, March 22nd – Winnipeg Jets @ Vancouver Canucks (7:00pm PST)
• Wednesday, March 24th – Winnipeg Jets @ Vancouver Canucks (7:00pm PST)

Who do you think played well during this past week? Make sure to drop a comment below!