Canucks get first shutout from a backup goalie in six years
It’s been a while.
On Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild, Casey DeSmith posted the first shutout by a Canucks backup goaltender since 2017, leading Vancouver to a 2-0 victory.
“Shutouts are really hard to come by, especially nowadays in this league with how many goals are being put up,” DeSmith told Daily Hive.
“They’re very rare so I’ll enjoy them while I have them.”
DeSmith was also surprised when he learned that he snapped the Canucks’ streak of shutout futility from the backup position.
“Come on, no way,” he told Daily Hive.
The last Canucks backup to post a shutout was Anders Nilsson. Ironically, he did so against the Minnesota Wild back on October 24, 2017.
DeSmith hadn’t even played an NHL game at that point. His first career game in the NHL came five days later with the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 29, 2017.
Since then, only Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko have registered shutouts for the Canucks, both doing so only during their time as the team’s starting netminder.
Every other shutout came courtesy of Markstrom or Demko during their time as a starter.
'18-19: Markstrom (1)
'19-20: Markstrom (2)
'20-21: Demko (1)
'21-22: Demko (1)
-22-23: Demko (1)— Trevor Beggs (@TrevBeggs) December 8, 2023
DeSmith had to be sharp early against the Wild as the Canucks were thoroughly outplayed in the first period. The Wild had the first 10 shots of the game and outshot the Canucks 12-4 after 20 minutes. They also had nine high-danger chances in the first period while the Canucks had zero, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The early work got DeSmith into the game. He didn’t make any mistakes in the first period, nor did he for the entire 60 minutes.
DeSmith with DeSaves đ« pic.twitter.com/LcEJXlVstZ
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 8, 2023
“I felt pretty good the whole night,” DeSmith told reporters post-game. “During the first period, I was pleasantly surprised with how good I felt, you know, having not played in a while.â
Thatcher Demko had started eight of the Canucks’ last nine games, and DeSmith hadn’t played since the Canucks lost to San Jose 4-3 back on November 25. This was DeSmith’s first win in nearly a month, having last been victorious on November 12 against the Montreal Canadiens.
DeSmith now has a .913 save percentage and a 5-2-1 record so far this season.
Höglander continues to impress Canucks coach Tocchet
Despite the Canucks being the inferior team through 20 minutes, Nils Höglander’s ninth goal of the season put the Canucks up 1-0.
Let it rip, Högsâïž pic.twitter.com/xKv8SnIawm
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 8, 2023
The 22-year-old is making the most of his elevated spot in the lineup, with goals in back-to-back games while playing on a line with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser.
However, after the game, Tocchet was more enthused with Höglander’s 200-foot game.
“I thought he gave that line a lot of energy and you know what, they were in a hard matchup against [Kirill Kaprizov], who’s a hell of a hockey player,” Tocchet told reporters post-game.
“That was a good step for Hoggy, playing in his own end against their top line. He played some D-zone stuff where you gotta defend and I thought he did a hell of a job.”
Höglander finished the night with a season-high 15:45 of ice time. With performances like that, he might finally stick around in the top-six after pushing hard for more minutes throughout the season to this point.
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