VANCOUVER -- Thatcher Demko left midway through the first period after the Vancouver Canucks goalie made six early saves against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Vancouver's 2-1 win on Saturday at Rogers Arena.
There was not an obvious injury, though the broadcast showed Demko shaking out his left leg during the pregame warmup and going to the bench to talk to coach Rick Tocchet shortly before leaving the game. Kevin Lankinen replaced him at 10:00 of the period. Demko was not on the bench to the start the second period, and the team later announced he would not return. Lankinen made 21 saves on 22 shots over the final 50:00.
"It was just something happened during the game,” Tocchet said. "I don't think it's that serious. I don't know from early reports. It's not the knee. We don't have to have you guys speculate ... I don't think it's as serious, but we'll see.”
Demko, who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goalie last season, missed the first two months and 24 games of the season recovering from a left knee injury sustained at the end of the first game of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 21. He returned on Dec. 6 but backed up Lankinen his first two games before making his season debut on Dec. 10, making 21 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss against the St. Louis Blues.
Demko also left a Jan. 2 game at the Seattle Kraken with back spasms and missed the next two games. He came into the game against Toronto on Saturday with a 6-6-3 record and .889 save percentage in 16 games this season, but was 3-1-0 in his past four starts with a .952 save percentage, including his first shutout of the season on Feb. 4, making 25 saves in a 3-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche.
