VANCOUVER -- Thatcher Demko is week to week with a lower-body injury, and the Vancouver Canucks’ No. 1 goalie will not join the team on a five-game road trip coming out of the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Demko, who left midway through the first period of a 2-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 8 after making six saves, was not on the ice on Tuesday for the Canucks’ first practice since then. Vancouver recalled goalie Arturs Silovs from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.
“I was told he's not going to go on this trip and it's a lower-body deal, so he won't be there,” assistant coach Adam Foote said.
There was not an obvious injury to Demko during the game against Toronto, but coach Rick Tocchet said at the time he did not think the injury was serious and that it was not related to the left-knee injury that kept him out for the first two months of the season.
“It's not the knee,” Tocchet said after the game.
Demko, who was a finalist last season for the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the best goalie in the NHL, missed training camp and the first 24 games of this season while recovering from a knee injury he sustained in the first game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 21. The 29-year-old backed up Kevin Lankinen for two games before making his season debut on Dec. 10, when he made 21 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Demko also left a 4-3 shootout win at the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 2 with back spasms and missed the next two games. He is 6-6-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and .891 save percentage in 17 games (all starts) this season but was 3-1-0 with a 1.25 GAA and .952 save percentage in his four starts prior to the game against Toronto on Feb. 8.
Lankinen was also absent from practice on Tuesday after playing for Finland in a 5-3 loss to Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off on Monday. Lankinen is expected to rejoin the Canucks (26-18-11) at practice on Friday in Las Vegas, one day before they open their road trip at the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, CITY, SN, CBC).
Lankinen, who is 19-8-7 with a 2.53 GAA and .905 save percentage in 34 games (32 starts) this season, will be the No. 1 goalie in Demko’s absence. But Vancouver has two back-to-back sets on the upcoming road trip, which ends on March 1 at Seattle, meaning Silovs likely will play at least one game, if not two, before Demko returns.
Silovs, who helped the Canucks to a six-game series victory against the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference First Round last season, began this season with Vancouver but went 1-4-1 with a 4.11 GAA and .847 save percentage before being sent to the AHL when Demko returned. The 23-year-old is 10-4-0 with a 2.43 GAA and .906 save percentage in 14 games with Abbotsford this season.
“It's a big chance,” Silovs said of playing on the road trip. “Just had to be patient, work hard day in and day out to prepare, and I feel good. Playing more games and getting more ice time (in the AHL) is a major boost for your confidence.”
