The Vancouver Canucks again may be forced to survive without No. 1 goaltender Thatcher Demko when they host the Nashville Predators on Friday night.
And again the Canucks hope Kevin Lankinen is able to hold the fort.
Demko, who missed the first 26 games of the season due to a lower-body injury, left near the midway point of the second period in Thursday’s road clash with the Seattle Kraken. Coach Rick Tocchet said Demko suffered back spasms.
“I don’t think it’s serious,” Tocchet said. “You know the way back spasms are — it could be a day or two, I’m not sure.”
Lankinen, who backstopped the Canucks to a 4-3 shootout win in Seattle, likely will be in the net against the Predators, with whom he spent two seasons before signing with Vancouver as a free agent.
Although the Canucks surrendered a 3-1 lead in the third period before recovering to beat the Kraken, Lankinen provided another solid performance when coming off the bench.
“It’s a good challenge,” said Lankinen, who stopped 13 of 15 shots through overtime and then was perfect in the shootout. “That’s why you prepare all day, prepare all year, prepare all summer, because you never know what’s going to happen. All the guys helped, and it’s a huge win.”
The Canucks, who have only two wins in their past seven games (2-2-3), also are without top-scorer Quinn Hughes, forward Elias Pettersson and key defenseman Filip Hronek due to injury. A second game in as many nights will be a test.
“We just have to play with energy,” forward Conor Garland said. “We have a mature group here. There are no excuses.”
The Predators have lost three consecutive games, all on the road, with the latest a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
“I thought we played more than well enough, deserved to win,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we had the ice tilted most of the game, gave up three power-play goals, (but we were) in the box way too much, especially on a night when the kill wasn’t as good as it has been.”
The Predators certainly did not help themselves with a steady steam of penalties. The score was 3-3 late in the second period when the Wild scored their second power-play goal of the clash to break it open.
“We wasted another good effort with just parading to the penalty box,” Nashville forward Colton Sissons said. “We’re putting the kill under duress — not to say it’s just the volume that’s the issue. … Our 5-on-5 game, it’s been pretty solid for a couple weeks, and we’re just killing ourselves. It’s frustrating.”
The swoon has Nashville ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks in the league standings. The road record, a paltry 3-13-4 with three games remaining on this trip, is not helping, either.
Due to the three-game suspension given to forward Zachary L’Heureux for slew-footing Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, Nashville summoned forward Ozzy Wiesblatt — the 2020 first-round draft choice of the San Jose Sharks acquired via trade — as well as defenseman Spencer Stastney from the minors.
Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon was injured in the Minnesota game, opening a spot for Stastney, while Wiesblatt could be called upon to make his NHL debut. He received the call on New Year’s Eve.
“I just broke down, crying like a baby, and it was hilarious,” Wiesblatt told the team’s website. “Super excited to be here, honestly. It’s a dream come true.”
–Field Level Media
