Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko looks to build on first start of the season

VANCOUVER — It was a whirlwind day for Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko.

Nearly eight months after he was injured in the first game of Vancouver’s playoff run, Demko returned to the crease Tuesday for his first start of the season.

“I’ve talked about managing expectations and not putting too much weight on that first game back, but obviously, as the moment builds, you’re excited to play and you want to perform,” he said. “So definitely a little bit of a weird day just getting back into the room and things.”

Demko stopped 21 of the 25 shots he faced as the Canucks fell 4-3 to the St. Louis Blues in overtime.

“I thought he was good tonight. It’s good to see him in net,” said Rick Tocchet, Vancouver’s head coach. “He looks big. I love seeing him back in. He’s worked really hard, so I thought he did a great job for us tonight.”

The result was a difficult one for the all-star netminder.

“Felt rusty for sure,” he said. “I thought I could have played a couple of goals differently. I’m sure that there’s stuff that I can pull to keep building. But obviously it’s frustrating right now.”

Demko backstopped the Canucks (14-8-5) to a playoff run last season. He posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 save percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts in regular-season action and played in the all-star game for the second time in his career.

Then, on April 24, he injured the popliteus muscle in his left knee during Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series.

The 28-year-old goalie from San Diego, Cali., has been working his way back from the rare injury ever since.

Demko admitted the ailment was in the back of his mind on Tuesday.

“Obviously, I was out for a long time. You have anxiety about things like that,” he said. “And, admittedly, there’s a couple of times during the game where I’m thinking about it a little bit, just to kind of work through those things. And that’s just part of the mentality of the game day and just building that confidence back up.”

Having Demko back in the crease is “a big add,” said Canucks winger Conor Garland, calling his teammate “a top goalie in the world.”

The team should have performed better in front of Demko, he added.

“You don’t want to give a guy four or five breakaways or odd-man rushes. So it’s not very good,” Garland said. “But he’s a battler, hangs in there, makes big saves. That’s why he’s the greatest.”

ON THE BOARD

Canucks forward Dakota Joshua opened the scoring Tuesday, deflecting a pass from Garland into the St. Louis net just over eight minutes into the game.

The goal was Joshua’s first of the season, coming in his 13th game The 28-year-old winger missed Vancouver’s first 15 games of the campaign as he recovered from treatment for testicular cancer.

Joshua said Tuesday that he feels like his game is getting back up to speed.

“Obviously, I know that I need to be better, and it was nice to have a better effort,” he said.

GOALS GOALS GOALS

Another game, another goal for Vancouver winger Jake DeBrusk.

The left-winger forced extra time Tuesday when he scored with a minute and 52 seconds left in the third period, tying the game at 3-3.

It was DeBrusk’s seventh goal in six games dating back to Nov. 29 — the most of any NHL skater during that span.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press