Demko helps Canucks hold off Flames

VANCOUVER -- Thatcher Demko made 38 saves, and the Vancouver Canucks hung on to defeat the Calgary Flames 4-2 at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Brock Boeser, Travis Hamonic and Tyler Myers each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks (23-28-4), who have a three-game point streak (2-0-1).
It was expected to be the final start for Demko in his first season as a No. 1 goalie.
"I'm pretty happy with it," he said of his season. "It's been a crazy year, definitely the hardest year I've had to go through, just unforeseen adversity, having to battle through a bunch of stuff. I speak for myself and I'm sure some of the other guys in the room, but I feel like I'm a stronger hockey player coming out of it. If we can make it through a year like this, we can probably make it through just about anything. Trying to shine a positive light on the situation and learn and grow from it."
Louis Domingue made 20 saves for the Flames (25-27-3), who had their three-game winning streak end. He last played in the NHL on March 1, 2020, when he was with the Canucks.
"It felt pretty good, pretty special," said Domingue, who played three games in the American Hockey League but spent most of this season on the taxi squad. "Sometimes you go through things in your career, like in my case I probably didn't think I might not even play another NHL game, so pretty privileged."
Neither team qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was the second of three straight games between the teams to finish the season; the Flames won 6-5 in overtime here on Sunday. The teams play each other at Calgary on Wednesday (3:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, SNP, NHL.TV).
"You're looking at, or giving some players opportunities they normally wouldn't get to raise their profile a little bit," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "So that's what you're still looking for is how they prepare and how they perform."

Hamonic scored for the second straight game to put the Canucks ahead 1-0 at 9:43 of the first period. All three his goals this season have come in the past eight games.
"He's played some really good hockey here the last I don't know how many games," Vancouver coach Travis Green said.
Nils Hoglander scored on a rebound to make it 2-0 at 19:11.
Myers had a goal overturned at 9:49 of the second period after Calgary challenged for offside. He later scored on the rush at 9:28 of the third period to extend the lead to 3-0.
Domingue stopped Hoglander on a breakaway at 15:56 before Andrew Mangiapane cut it to 3-1 at 16:38.
"I thought I had gas in the tank to still play in the NHL, but sometimes you don't think you're going to," Domingue said. "It was certainly a challenge, but I'm glad that I got to play tonight."
Matthew Tkachuk scored with 1:00 remaining and Domingue pulled for the extra attacker to make it 3-2, but Boeser scored into an empty net with 19 seconds left for the 4-2 final.
"Obviously they pushed a little bit there in the third, but you had to expect that, and I thought we handled it pretty well," Demko said.
NOTES: Mangiapane tied his NHL career high with 17 goals in 55 games; he scored that many last season in 68 games. Mangiapane has scored four goals in the past three games. … Flames forward Adam Ruzicka got his first NHL point in his second game, assisting on Mangiapane's goal. … Canucks forward William Lockwood had two shots and played 12:44 in his NHL debut. … Demko is 16-18-1 with a 2.85 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. ... Braden Holtby is expected to start for Vancouver on Wednesday.