Head Coach Adam Foote wasn’t surprised to see Demko pick up where he left off, citing the goaltender’s work ethic and drive to be the best version of himself.
“They got some chances, but we didn't give him a lot of grade A's, and I thought Demmer had a really good game as well. He was stopping what he should stop and making it look easy, so, that was good to see,” Foote said.
"When a goalie’s seeing it like that, the D just do their job, they let them have the strong side shot and they know Demmer's there. It gives all our players a lot of confidence.”
The Canucks are seeing more cohesion on defence, the penalty kill was four-for-four, and the team blocked 14 shots. Foote says their timing has improved, and the team is trusting the system and each other.
"We're more playing as a unit, which I like, and we're way better up ice. Overall, defensively, we're not panicking as much as we were when things don't go our way; we know our structure, there's going to be times they’re going to hem us in, and we didn't get loose or run around, so that's good to see,” Foote said.
Evander Kane scored the game-winning goal, and Kane says things are coming together for the group, and it’s a step in the right direction.
“I think we can have even better habits, especially through the neutral zone and just little things. I think we're learning, and the good thing right now is we put a couple of wins together in a row on a long road trip, and it's a good start,” Kane said. “We’ve got to climb out of the hole we kind of put ourselves in and we have another opportunity on Friday night against the Islanders to do that.”
Goals
In the first period, Evander Kane came down the right side and cut across the crease, deking Jonathan Quick and going stick side, giving Vancouver a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.
“I played against Quickie for a long time when he was in L.A., and I know he likes that kind of one knee down, so I thought I'd try to outwait him, and I was able to put it away,” Kane said.
