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Thatcher Demko won’t play for the Vancouver Canucks tonight, and his status is questionable for the rest of their playoff series against the Nashville Predators.
This is according to a trio of reports from Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, and Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK.
Sources tell @DailyFaceoff: #Canucks Thatcher Demko is out for Game 2. His status for the series is questionable.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 23, 2024
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed after practice that Demko won’t play tonight.
“He’s not gonna play tonight. We’re evaluating him today on something that wasn’t the old injury,” said Tocchet. “It’s a day-to-day thing.”
Demko hasn’t been heard from or seen on the ice by the media since Sunday’s big win.
The All-Star goalie was supposed to speak to reporters following Game 1 but wasn’t made available, with Canucks PR saying he was getting “treatment.” That’s not an infrequent explanation by the team for players who don’t speak after games, though it seems to happen less often after a big win.
The Canucks held an optional practice on Monday that was sparsely attended. Demko was one of many players absent.
Tuesday’s morning skate is also optional, except this time, nearly everyone attended. But not Demko.
#Canucks on the prior to Game 2.
Hughes and Pettersson are skating today.
Thatcher Demko is not on the ice although it is an optional skate.
He was not at yesterday’s lightly attended optional practice either. pic.twitter.com/OAoPHi5tOf
— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) April 23, 2024
Demko missed more than a month with a knee injury and returned to the lineup one week ago. Many are wondering if he may have re-aggravated something.
The 28-year-old netminder played the final two regular season games before stopping 22 of 24 Nashville Predators shots he faced in the playoff opener.
Did Demko tweak something on a sensational save he made early in the game? He went post-to-post and did the splits to rob former Canuck Anthony Beauvillier.
PLAYOFF DEMKO pic.twitter.com/LaUSsmVOCa
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 22, 2024
While many will conclude that a knee injury has re-aggravated, Irfaan Gaffar’s reporting jives with Tocchet’s statement that this is a new ailment.
Don’t believe this injury is linked to any that Demko has had in the past.
— Irfaan Gaffar (@irfgaffar) April 23, 2024
Whatever it is, expect Casey DeSmith to play in Demko’s place tonight in Game 2, with Arturs Silovs backing him up. DeSmith posted a 12-9-6 record in 27 starts for the Canucks this season, with a .896 save percentage.
DeSmith has started just one playoff game during his career, stopping 48 of 51 shots he faced while a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins two years ago. He didn’t finish the game though, as he suffered an injury in double overtime.