It's a knee injury for Demko, he'll miss 2-3 weeks for Canucks: report
The news appears to be mostly positive for Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko.
The All-Star goalie left Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury that had nervous Canucks fans fearing the worst. A long-term injury to their Vezina-calibre goaltender would threaten the Canucks’ season, given that the playoffs begin in just six weeks.
With that context, news filtering in from insiders today has been positive. Elliotte Friedman said the injury isn’t “disastrous” and that Demko is expected to only miss a short amount of time.
The most precise update so far has come from TSN’s Farhan Lalji, who says that Demko will miss two to three weeks with a knee injury.
Iām told itās a knee injury for Demko. Rick confirms itās not anything heās dealt with previously. #Canucksšš½ https://t.co/3HaNnG0YS2
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) March 11, 2024
A three-week injury would keep Demko out for the remainder of the Canucks’ homestand, causing him to miss eight more games.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reported that he’s heard it’s “best case scenario” for Demko on Donnie and Dhali today. He added that the injury isn’t to Demko’s groin or hip — two injuries that the 28-year-old netminder has dealt with in the past.
With three days off between games, the Canucks have taken a rare two-day practice break. They’ll be back on the ice tomorrow when we’ll likely get an official injury update and learn which goalie has been called up from Abbotsford. The next game is Wednesday at home to the Colorado Avalanche.
The Canucks have two options for an AHL call-up. Both Arturs Silovs and Nikita Tolopilo have matching .907 save percentages in the AHL this season. Silovs also fared well in five NHL games for Vancouver last season, while this is Tolopilo’s first season in North America.
Regardless of who gets the call, backup Casey DeSmith is expected to receive the bulk of the upcoming games for Vancouver. With a light schedule, they could lean on DeSmith for every game in the next three weeks if they so choose.
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