The Vancouver Canucks will be without goaltender Thatcher Demko on a week-to-week basis after he underwent an evaluation on Tuesday, according to head coach Rick Tocchet.
Demko missed Tuesday’s 4-1 loss in Game 2 of the Canucks’ first round playoff series against the Nashville Predators. Daily Faceoff hockey insider Frank Seravalli reported earlier on Tuesday that Demko is questionable to return in the series.
Canucks backup goaltender Casey DeSmith allowed three goals on just 15 shots in Game 2 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Tocchet kept it brief in his post-game media availability when talking about Demko and Tyler Myers, who also missed Tuesday’s game.
“[Myers] had the flu today, he was really under the weather,” Tocchet said. “And then Demmer got evaluated today, he’s gonna be probably week-to-week.”
The Canucks have been understandably coy about the details surrounding Demko’s absence. He participated in the team’s optional skate on Monday but was absent on Tuesday morning, with Tocchet providing minimal updates after the fact.
“Well, he skated yesterday, he’s not going to play tonight,” Tocchet said after the morning skate. “We’re going to evaluate him today on something. It wasn’t the old injury, and that’s all I really got for you guys.”
Demko previously missed 14 games during the regular season while recovering from a knee injury but returned in time to play a couple of games leading into the playoffs. He stopped 22 of 24 shots in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over Nashville in Game 1.
During the 2023-24 regular season, Demko posted a 35-14-2 record to go along with five shutouts and a .918 save percentage over 51 games. The San Diego, California product was one of six players who represented the Canucks at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto.
The Canucks originally selected Demko in the second round (No. 36 overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft. The 6’4” goaltender went on to star at Boston College for three seasons before turning pro in the Canucks organization in 2016.
After splitting the first two games of the series, the Canucks are slated to hit the road for Games 3 and 4 in Nashville on Friday and Sunday. They’ll return home for Game 5 the following Tuesday before proceeding from there as necessary.
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