There was a time when it seemed like the only way the Vancouver Canucks could win was if Thatcher Demko stole the game. At least the Canucks were being eco-friendly with how much they were hanging Demko out to dry.
This season, however, has been wildly different. The Canucks are not only the highest-scoring team in the NHL, averaging 3.84 goals per game, but have also been significantly better at preventing dangerous scoring chances in the defensive zone. Demko has still been very good, with a .919 save percentage that is well above league average, but he hasn’t had to be perfect to win games.
But every now and then, Demko proves he can still be perfect when he needs to be.
The Canucks managed just one goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon, just the sixth time all season they’ve been limited to one or fewer goals. They needed Demko to dominate and he obliged, stopping all 26 shots he faced.
“Demmer, when you look at him, even the shots that went wide, he looks so big in the net,” said head coach Rick Tocchet. “That’s typical Demko. Very solid, doesn’t get rattled, looks big in the net. Just a hell of a game by Demmer.”
It was Demko’s fourth shutout of the season, tying him for the league lead. He now has more shutouts this season than in the rest of his career combined.
It’s amazing what playing behind a competent defence can do.
Yes, Demko had to make some fantastic saves to get the shutout but he only had to make 26 saves in total. For the most part, the Canucks kept the Sabres to the outside and avoided giving up odd-man rushes and cross-seam passes.
In that sense, Demko didn’t really have to steal the game, even if it was a 1-0 shutout. At the very least, it wasn’t grand larceny. It was more like petty theft or even just shoplifting.
The Canucks’ other wins on this road trip have been, like the work of Andres Serrano, offensive works of art, as they’ve piled up goals by the bushel. In contrast, this game against the Sabres was, like the work of Andres Serrano, a little bit more gross and grimy.
“It wasn’t pretty but we stuck to our structure and pretty much everyone played hard,” said Sam Lafferty, who scored the lone Canucks goal. “We locked it down, Demmer played great, and sometimes that’s what it takes.”
The 1-0 win had to make Tocchet happy, as he’s talked about the team needing to become comfortable playing low-scoring games. Not only that, it was heavy, physical, and gritty game, which harkens back to his own playing style.
“Miller getting into a fight, some of the hits — both sides — it was kind of a mucky type of game, which is kind of good,” said Tocchet. “I love when you have these types of games and see your resolve. I thought we did a good job.”
It wasn’t a pretty game to watch but that didn’t make it unenjoyable when I watched this game.
- The anthem singer for the game seemed a little shaky in her performance. To be fair, there was a guy with an axe right behind her the whole time.
- This was a weird and eventful game for J.T. Miller. He didn’t play all that poorly; he was just involved in a lot of weird plays and other happenings. It started in the first period, when he had a golden opportunity to set up Elias Pettersson on a 2-on-1 down low early in the game and instead strangely kept the puck for a low-percentage shot. Even the Sabres announcer said, “Looked like Pettersson was a gimme.”
- Later on the power play, Miller backchecked hard to prevent a shorthanded 2-on-1, but then left Jordan Greenway wide open for a shorthanded chance, forcing Demko to come up with a big save. Miller has been known to make these types of defensive mistakes in previous seasons but he’s just been so on the ball this season that it was baffling to see.
- The Canucks as a whole were getting outplayed in the first period, with even the ever-reliable Good Job Boys — Conor Garland, Dakota Joshua, and Teddy Blueger — getting pinned into the defensive zone by the Sabres’ top line, with Demko coming up with a big glove save on Ryan Johnson to end the threat.
- The Good Job Boys were matched up against the Sabres’ top line all night, which is an interesting development. Tocchet has pointed out that the Canucks’ third line has mostly faced other third lines this season and feasted on those matchups but with Tocchet loading up the Lotto Line, he needs another line to take on tough opponents. Beyond that one shift, the Good Job Boys did well against the top line, so we’ll see if that continues.
- It was a slow start for the Canucks but they took over in the final five minutes of the first period, with the third and fourth lines leading the way. Tocchet specifically shouted out the fourth line — naming it the Höglander line, which seems somehow significant.
- “A little sluggish,” said Tocchet of the team’s start. “We’re coming in here at the end of a trip. I think about five or six minutes left, the Höglander line — Åman and Lafferty — went out there and they gave us a big shift. All of a sudden, it kind of energized our team.”
- Garland and the Good Job Boys also had a strong shift late in the first, with Garland spinning off checks, setting up chances, and making one Datsyukian stick lift to extend the shift, leading to an icing to set up an offensive zone faceoff for the Lotto Line. What’s crazy is that his shift started by getting absolutely trucked by Kyle Okposo. Like Darkwing Duck, Garland semed completely unfazed by being flattened.
- Like an appetizer at a Mexican restaurant, things got a little bit spicy at the end of the first to warm you up for the spiciness that was to come. Nikita Zadorov knocked Dylan Cozens flat on his rear end, then Caron Soucy met Cozens with a stiff check only to get a stick in the chops for his troubles. I haven’t seen Cozens get kicked around like that since we got together with extended family at Christmas.
- It looked like the Lotto Line had opened the scoring in the second period on a gorgeous shot by Brock Boeser but such beauty had no place in this gritty, gross game and the goal was called back for the extremely petty reason that it was blatantly offside. It’s a crime, I tell you.
- No matter, the fourth line opened the scoring for real a moment later with an ugly one that was more aesthetically in line with this game. Nils Höglander did some good work down low against a couple of Sabres, forcing a turnover up the boards to Zadorov, whose point shot hit Sam Lafferty in front and dropped neatly to the ice in the crease for Lafferty to slide into the open net.
- Lafferty didn’t even get to celebrate his goal, as he took a late, high hit from Greenway after putting the puck into the net that caused his visor to cut him just below his eye. Really, getting injured, then screaming and swearing at an opponent and the officials was possibly the most appropriate goal celebration possible for this particular game.
- Things really got spicy when Miller kept his weird game going with a big hit on Rasmus Dahlin. By IIHF standards, it was a hit to the head that would have gotten him kicked out of the game and suspended. By NHL standards, it was a clean hit that shouldn’t have even resulted in a penalty as he hit Dahlin through the body.
- Sabres fans wanted Miller to either be booted from the game and criminally prosecuted or to stay in the game and get murdered. Canucks fans thought Miller didn’t do anything wrong. The refs proceeded to make nobody happy by giving Miller a minor penalty for elbowing, which is quite possibly the only wrong call that could have been made, as Miller’s elbow was completely tucked in.
- The Sabres went after Miller for the hit, with Erik Johnson challenging him to a fight, which he quickly regretted because Miller probably carries a wallet that says, “Bad mother ****er.” Miller started chucking knuckles like he was in the eighties and Johnson clearly was not ready for that heat.
- They also went after Quinn Hughes, seeking some Old Testament, eye-for-an-eye retribution, at least until Dahlin returned to the game, no worse for wear. They tried to catch Hughes with some big hits that he mostly evaded and then got tackled in a scrum. Best part of the scrum, in my books, was Thatcher Demko looking on, then casually tossing the puck into the faceoff circle
- The Sabres made a lot of noise in the second and third period after the Canucks took the lead but it was ultimately all sound and fury, signifying nothing, as Demko made save after save to keep the Sabres off the scoreboard. What was most impressive is how easy Demko made it look. His positioning was impeccable, making most pucks hit him in the crest or go straight into his waiting glove.
- I loved this steal by Pettersson in the offensive zone. It’s one of those plays that makes me want to bring back the Pavel Datsyuk comparisons he was getting in his rookie year. It didn’t result in anything but man, what a steal.
- The final act of Miller’s weird game was an egregious turnover at the worst possible time: with one minute remaining while defending a 1-0 lead. Miller made a great play to lift the stick of Cozens and steal the puck, then tried to slip a short pass to Filip Hronek for the clear. Instead, he overshot Hronek and put the puck right in the wheelhouse of JJ Peterka in the slot. I guess he was just trying to pad his league lead in primary assists.
- It’s fine. Demko made the save and Miller is still an All-Star. Everyone’s allowed a weird one.
- “I think maybe we didn’t have our best through waves of the game but I think we recognized that pretty early on,” said Demko. “We realize that you’ve got to win dirty games sometimes. I’m proud of our group for recognizing that and adjusting on the fly. Sometimes those games can sneak up on you and you’re looking in the mirror after the game but we did a great job.”
