Canucks give Martin the start instead of Demko against Leafs tonight
Spencer Martin will be front-and-centre on Hockey Night in Canada when the Vancouver Canucks challenge the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For the first time.
Martin, a product of Oakville, Ontario, has never faced off against his hometown team until a perhaps surprise start for the backup with the slumping Canucks needing to rattle off a few wins.
Oakville-native, Spencer Martin, gets the start tonight š„ pic.twitter.com/HWXK2f8vtj
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 12, 2022
“Marty’s been playing great for us all year, and for him to get the start tonight, especially against Toronto and in his hometown, and I’m sure he’s going to have lots of friends and family here tonight,” Vancouver captain Bo Horvat told media Saturday morning. “We’re going to want to play well in front of him, and I’m sure he’s going to want to play well tonight.”
Martin is 3-0-1 with a 3.45 goals-against average and .900 save percentage in four starts this season. He has yet to lose in regulation with the Canucks dating back to last season — a franchise record.
He gets the nod in Toronto with the trio of Vancouver greats — Roberto Luongo and Daniel and Henrik Sedin — enjoying the festivities of Hall-of-Fame weekend, too.
Newest permanent residents of the Great Hall at the Hockey Hall of Fame. pic.twitter.com/J3Od16Kdf5
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 11, 2022
Thatcher Demko, the team’s starter, has slumped to an uncharacteristic 1-7-2 with a 4.01 goals-against average and .874 save percentage in 10 appearances.
It’s likely Demko, who played three seasons at Boston College from 2013-2016, will start the second of back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
“He’s working through some things, like I talked to him this morning about it,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I asked him if he was in a good place. He says he is. When you’re a quality goalie, like everybody knows that Demko is a quality goalie, that eventually it pops out, and he gets that one game where he’s outstanding and that may lead to just him being normal for him.
“I think a lot of it is confidence. Usually, it always is anyway. But, I mean, the confidence in us of him getting back to normal is there. That’s why he keeps going in all the time.”
"I was fortunate enough to get a hat trick, and he got 5 assists that night and (assisted) on every one of my goals. He was an incredible player."
š£ Head Coach Bruce Boudreau on when he played with Bƶrje Salming@theprovince | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/TYqqPlAVwc
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 12, 2022
The Canucks will need Demko to round into form soon.
Vancouver sits sixth in the eight-team Pacific Division with 11 points by way of a 4-7-3 record. They trail the Minnesota Wild by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.