Canucks’ fight to stay afloat takes another hit with loss of Demko

VANCOUVER — When Vancouver Canucks coach Adam Foote tried without much success on Friday to explain why Thatcher Demko could miss back-to-back games on the weekend, the goalie’s issue sounded like more than “maintenance” but less than injury.

Demko was too sore to play and needed a couple of days off. Fine. Not to worry, he would likely be back for Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets.

And Demko was back. He allowed three goals on eight shots in the first period and was not seen again. Kevin Lankinen played the final two periods for Vancouver, just like he played most of last season, as the Canucks lost 5-3 to end a 1-2-1 homestand.

The limping team now has to travel all the way to the Atlantic to play both Florida teams and the Carolina Hurricanes.

But it could have been worse on Tuesday.

Canucks captain and superstar Quinn Hughes also left the game in the second period with an apparent arm or shoulder injury but returned a few minutes later.

None of the Jets’ first three goals were Demko’s fault. Two of them bounced in off Winnipeg skates and another off a Vancouver stick. 

The team announced at the start of the second period that Demko would not return, and Foote did not have much to add post-game except confirm the injury is “lower body.”

The coach said Demko was ready to start after sitting out weekend games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche.

“I mean, yeah, you can’t control injuries,” Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk said. “There’s different stuff that happens to guys, you know, (and) since I’ve been here, there’s been a lot. You know what? Kevin came in cold, did a great job, gave us a chance. Obviously, you hope (Demko is) okay, and you hope he’s back as fast as possible. That’s just how you take it on the bench. 

“I was even talking to him a little bit when he came over (during the first period); I knew something wasn’t right.”

The best of Demko’s five saves also looked like the most demanding — a post-to-post stretch to get his left pad in front of Cole Perfetti’s backdoor shot about six minutes in when it was already 1-0 for Winnipeg.

Lankinen has struggled at the start of this season to replicate the form (and .902 save percentage) from last year that earned him a five-year, $22.5-million contract extension. But he had one of his best games so far in relief of Demko.

He stopped 20 of 21 shots and wasn’t beaten until the Vancouver’s dreadful penalty killing allowed Gabe Vilardi time and space between the hash marks to collect Kyle Connor’s pass, measure a backhand and flip the puck past the goalie’s stick-side to make it 4-2 for Winnipeg 48 seconds into the third period.

So, that’s a goaltending positive for Vancouver.

But Lankinen may have to do this for a couple or many games in a row.

Foote said Demko would be re-evaluated Wednesday, which is the Canucks’ travel day. Their three-game cross-continental jaunt opens Friday in North Carolina.

“We’re all human beings, and I don’t think anybody understands a goalie as well as another goalie,” Lankinen said of the emotional aspect of Demko’s injury. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to him, so I don’t know. . . I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but I hope for the best.

“I’m ready to play every single game. That’s what I love to do. That’s what I always wanted to do.”

Lankinen re-iterated it is the backup goalie’s responsibility to always be ready, and make sure he’s prepared to seize the opportunity to start if it arises. After playing four straight games, the 30-year-old from Finland feels the starter’s workload is helping him.

“I think so, yeah,” he said. “And probably most of the goalies would agree on that. The game slows down a little bit, and you make better reads when you’re in the game, and the preparation gets a little easier because you’re in the rhythm and you’re feeling it. So who knows what’s going to happen the next few days here. But I’ve got to learn from this and get better.”

You must remember, for context, that Demko carries more baggage than a Samsonite freighter when it comes to injuries.

Demko’s rare and confounding popliteus muscle tear in his knee clouded his career before last season and delayed his entry to the Canucks’ lineup until December. He was injured twice more before the season was over, and Demko explained later that his lack of adequate pre-season preparation left him physically vulnerable and unable to withstand the rigors of the every-second-day NHL schedule.

This past summer, with the chance to fully train and get back to peak condition, Demko changed his routine and broadened his personal “team” to make preparation more preventative, guarding against future injuries.

Because without Demko, even with a backup-plus in Lankinen, the Canucks have little chance to be successful.

In order, the most important basic prerequisites for a bounce-back season in Vancouver and a return to the Stanley Cup playoffs were:

1.       Demko staying healthy.

2.       Elias Pettersson playing like an elite centre.

There are many other factors but none come close to the essentialness of these first two.

Until the Canucks’ last road trip, Demko was not only the team’s most valuable player through 11 games, statistically he was about the best goalie in the NHL in October.

Whether he misses another game, another month or the rest of the season, he is part of the injury crisis that has undermined the Canucks’ opening quarter of the season.

They’ve had as many as nine players out. And with Demko unavailable, they are currently without seven.

If only their health matched their heart. The 8-9-1 Canucks continue to compete with desperation, trying to survive this spell well enough to be in the playoff fight when they get healthy.

Even against the Jets, Brock Boeser’s rebound goal as the Canucks skated six-against-five brought Vancouver within one, down 4-3, with 90 seconds remaining. Alex Iafallo’s empty-netter clinched it for Winnipeg.

After playing 51 games last season as Demko’s stand-in, Lankinen certainly sounds up to the challenge now.

“I feel great,” he said. “The more I play, the better I feel. That’s always what you want to do as a goalie — you want to be the guy, you want to carry the load and help the team win. And I’ve been feeling really good, and hopefully we’ll get some more results here soon.

“I’m just living day by day, you know? Just one day at a time and not worrying too much about the future.”

If only Canuck fans could feel so unencumbered.