After two wins over the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks looked to ride that momentum against the Philadelphia Flyers. On Tuesday night, they crashed back to reality in the City of Brotherly Love with an uninspiring 2-0 loss. Thatcher Demko played great and that is good. However, the team in front of him was not good. Canucks fans have seen this film before. The Canucks can’t rely on Demko to bail them out all the time.
The Canucks Cannot Rely on Demko Every Night
Vancouver was coming off two impressive wins over the Edmonton Oilers. It seemed like all their problems were solved! But their problems and old habits came back to bite them against the Flyers.
The second period saw the Canucks being outshot 23-2 and that period was the worst period they have played so far this season. They were not getting any offensive zone and there were some really bad turnovers, odd-man rushes and defensive mistakes.
As for Demko, he played lights out. He ended the night with 40 saves. Perhaps none was bigger than this late third period save on Scott Laughton for an early save of the year candidate.
Thatcher Demko with the save of the year so far! Incredible! pic.twitter.com/FqMmmEGHEY
— CanucksArmy (@CanucksArmy) October 18, 2023
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet did not hold back in his post-game media availability.
“I can’t even pick one guy that played well except Demko, he was unreal,” said Tocchet per Thomas Drance of The Athletic.
Old habits Die Hard
Vancouver opened their season with a resounding 8-1 win over the Oilers last Wednesday. That was a complete team performance. Last Saturday, the Canucks went into Edmonton last Saturday and were outplayed but they managed to hold on thanks to some great goaltending from backup Casey Desmith and some good defensive and penalty-killing displays (and poor goaltending from the Oilers.) They also got some depth scoring from the likes of Nils Höglander and the newly acquired Sam Lafferty.
But against the Flyers, everything except goaltending went out the window.
Other than the praise for Demko, Tocchet continued to rip his team.
“Who are we to think we’re anybody?” said Tocchet per Drance.
That’s a pretty alarming quote.
“I didn’t see guys competing at all, that’s alarming,” said Tocchet per Jason Brough of Sportsnet 650.
The fact that the head coach is saying things like this just three games into the season is alarming.
The Canucks game against the Flyers was like watching a game from them from the past three years. Demko played very well but the rest of the team didn’t. It’s Groundhog Day all over again.
It’s still early but…
Yes, the Canucks roster isn’t that great and is a huge reason why they looked so flat against the Flyers. They upgraded their blue line by signing Carson Soucy and Ian Cole in the summer and traded for Filip Hronek last spring to make life easier for Demko.
However, the defence still isn’t great. Noah Juulsen doesn’t look like he belongs in an NHL lineup (the acquisition of Mark Friedman from the Pittsburgh Penguins means Juulsen is definitely coming out of the lineup soon) and Tyler Myers had a horrid game against the Flyers and Canucks fans on Twitter have seen enough of him.
It’s only been three games but according to MoneyPuck, they are 28th in expected goals at five-on-five. According to NaturalStatTrick, they are 30th in five-on-five Corsi for a percentage at 40.9%. The two teams they are ahead of in that category? The Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. They are two teams projected to finish in the bottom five of the NHL. So Tocchet has every right to be ticked off and alarmed.
As for Demko, his numbers are good after playing just two games. His .979 save percentage is fourth in the NHL and he has 2.9 goals above expected which is seventh in the NHL.
For the past three seasons, Demko has carried the Canucks like he was carrying a boulder up a mountain. They would be in games they had no business being in and Demko would do the heavy lifting.
It’s nice that Demko has looked like an elite goaltender early in the season but he is only human after all. The goaltender can only do so much. The Canucks can’t rely on Demko to drag them to the playoffs. If they do that, it could be another year without playoff hockey in Vancouver and there have been far too many of those in the past decade.
It’s still early but there needs to be more from everyone on the team, not just Demko.
Main Photo: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
