Demko to make season debut for Canucks against Blues

VANCOUVER -- Thatcher Demko will make his season debut for the Vancouver Canucks when they host the St. Louis Blues at Rogers Arena on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNP, FDSNMW).

The Canucks’ No. 1 goalie hasn’t played since injuring a muscle in his left knee in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round against the Nashville Predators on April 21. Demko, who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the League’s best goalie last season, dressed as the backup to Kevin Lankinen the past two games.

“Everybody knows his capabilities,” Vancouver forward Conor Garland said. “I think he's the best in the world, so just to add a player of that stature back to your lineup is huge, and obviously we're super excited to have him back. It's a pretty good tandem.”

Demko has been taking part in team practices for nearly a month and had his own net at practice Thursday before dressing as the backup in a 5-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday and a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.

The Canucks (14-8-4) sent goalie Arturs Silovs to Abbotsford of the American Hockey League ahead of the game against Tampa Bay. Lankinen is 13-4-3 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .908 save percentage in 20 games this season.

“There's a bunch of factors,” coach Rick Tocchet said of the recent timeline. “You want him to feel comfortable, you want to communicate with him, [Lankinen] was playing well, too, so there wasn't a pressing issue to get him in. But we want to get him in so he's comfortable enough to go in. We're excited. Obviously, he's a huge part of our team.”

Demko, who turned 29 on Sunday, sustained the injury in his third game back after missing almost six weeks with a different knee injury late in the regular season. He was back skating while the Canucks played the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs and said at the time he expected to return for the Western Conference Final if the Canucks had not lost Game 7 to the Oilers on May 20.

Almost seven months later, Demko will finally play again.

“Just to see how hard he battled,” Garland said. “When you talk over the summer, he's just grinding and grinding, and he has been forever.”

Demko finished second in Vezina Trophy voting last season to Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets after setting NHL career bests in wins (35), shutouts (five) and save percentage (.918) despite being limited to 51 games after the March 9 knee injury against the Jets. He is 116-81-17 with a 2.79 GAA and .912 save percentage in 219 NHL games (213 starts), all with the Canucks.

He was a second-round pick (No. 36) by Vancouver at the 2014 NHL Draft.

“When you look at the way [Demko] has worked hard to get back, a lot of lonely times by himself, it should give guys juice that you want to play well in front of him,” Tocchet said. “You'd be crazy not to.

“Maybe there's going to be a lot of extra shot blocking, get the puck in deep when we're tired, maybe to give him a break, things like that. I think we need to do that tonight for him.”