Canucks’ Demko won’t play in Game 7 vs. Oilers

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet announced that goaltender Thatcher Demko will not be playing in Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers.

The announcement came in the aftermath of Vancouver’s 5-1 loss to the Oilers. Demko’s status had been up in the air for a lot of the series, with there being some belief that he would return to the lineup by the end of the second round. However, it sounds like he won’t be even ready for Game 7, although Tocchet provided no updated on his status for the third round should the Canucks advance.

Demko has been out with an undisclosed injury that he suffered in Game 1 of the Canuck’s first round series against the Nashville Predators. Demko allowed two goals in the 4-2 win, and finished the night with a .917% save percentage.

Demko was also excellent in the regular season, with a 35-14-2 record, a .918% save%, five shutouts, and a 25.83 goals saved above expected in 51 games. His play resulted in him getting nominated for the Vezina Trophy for the 2023-24 season along with Connor Hellebuyck and Sergei Bobrovsky.

Since Demko’s injury, the Canucks played Casey DeSmith for the following two games before he also suffered an injury, and then have ran with Arturs Silovs up to this point. Silovs had a 3-0-1 record, an .881% save%, and a -0.5 goals saved above expected in four regular season games, but has improved in the postseason with a 5-3-1 record, an .898% save%, 1 shutout and 3.38 goals saved above expected in 9 games.

The Canucks will look to keep their season alive and advance to the Western Conference Final when they face the Oilers on Monday for Game 7 of their second round series at 9 p.m. EST. Vancouver finished the regular season with a 50-23-9 record, which was good enough for first in the Pacific Division and sixth in the league.