The last three games for the Vancouver Canucks have followed a similar script.
The three games against the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, and New Jersey Devils have been tightly contested and low-scoring through the first two periods, only for madness to take over in the third period with the Canucks trading goals with their opponents.
In all three games, the Canucks trailed by a goal going into the final minute. In St. Louis, Brock Boeser came through with the clutch goal with just four seconds left in regulation; in New York, Igor Shesterkin thwarted their comeback efforts, allowing J.T. Miller to score into the empty net to seal the game; in New Jersey, it was Pius Suter’s turn to clutch up, tying the game with 36 seconds left.
Ultimately, like the movie Clue, the Canucks wound up with three different endings from the same script: an overtime loss to the Blues, regulation loss to the Rangers, and shootout win over the Devils.
The Canucks had Thatcher “Shyamalan” Demko to thank for the twist ending of a win, as he gave the script a late rewrite.
“It’s been tough watching the boys go through a playoff run,” said Demko to Prime’s Andi Petrillo. “You don’t want to step in and ruin it for them or not contribute in a positive way, so it was nice to get the win.”
Demko wasn’t perfect in his return from injury, which shouldn’t be too surprising after missing six weeks. But he came through with vintage Demko saves when the Canucks needed them, including an incredible stop on a 2-on-1 in overtime where he went into the full splits to rob Paul “Welcome Back” Cotter.
“The save in overtime, that’s Thatcher,” said head coach Rick Tocchet. “I’m just really proud of him. It’s been a tough six weeks for him.”
“Classic me, playing a 2-on-1 like s***,” quipped Quinn Hughes about the save to ESPN after extolling Demko’s virtues: “He definitely could’ve won the Vezina last year. When he’s in the net, it’s a different feeling. I think he’s had, like, two team practices, maybe even one, before tonight, so probably wasn’t even close to 100% and he just gutted one out for us. He was an absolute beast. He’s just one of the most competitive guys I know.”
That save got the Canucks to the shootout, where Demko said not today to three out of four Devils to earn the Canucks the extra point for the win.
It was an extremely important extra point because the Canucks need every point they can get. They’re three points behind the Blues with a game in hand, while the Calgary Flames are a point behind the Canucks with two games in hand. The Canucks need the Blues and Flames to lose some games and can’t afford to lose too many of their own.
“We’ve got three-and-a-half weeks left to save our season,” said Hughes, “so, at this point, it’s just put your foot down and wherever that leads us.”
You heard the captain: pedal to the metal and cut the brakes. Get in, losers, we’re going winning. Maybe. “Wherever that leads us” is a little bit vague.
At least for one more night, the Canucks made like The Crystal Method and kept hope alive when I watched this game.
- The most impressive part of the win is that they managed the comeback without two of their hottest forwards, Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander, not to mention Filip Chytil. That left the Canucks with Pius Suter centring the first line, Teddy Blueger centring the second line, and Nils Åman and Aatu Räty down the middle in the bottom-six. That’s less than ideal.
- Of course, Suter responded to the assignment with a two-point night: he scored the opening goal in the first period and assisted on the game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation, book-ending a game where he had a game-high six shots on goal, went 12-and-9 in the faceoff circle, threw two hits, and blocked two shots while playing over 23 minutes. For one night, at least, Suter was a real first-line centre.
- Suter opened the scoring after winning a faceoff in the offensive zone. Marcus Pettersson activated from the point and jumped up the left side, while Suter slipped behind Nico Hischier and faked like he was going behind the net. Just as Hischier moved down low to block the pass, Suter popped into the slot, then popped a one-timer into the net from the Pettersson pass. Unlike Jack Traven, Hischier failed the pop quiz.
- Nils Åman got robbed of his second goal of the season midway through the second period. He crashed the net and Jake DeBrusk fed him the puck. Jacob Markstrom robbed him on his first shot but Åman had room on the rebound, only for Devils defenceman Johnathan Kovecivic to get his stick on the puck to clear it off the line. I guess that’s why they call him “Åman of constant sorrow.”
- The Devils tied the game halfway through the second period on the power play after a penalty call of questionable correctness. Jesper Bratt fed Dawson Mercer on top of the crease and he slipped the puck backdoor to Timo Meier. While Meier whiffed on his first shot, it worked out for him: as Demko lifted up his left leg to push back into position, Mier slid the puck under him into the net.
- At one point in the second period, Demko made a save and swallowed the puck so completely that it went right down his pants. It ended up looking like Demko was laying a puck egg. And that, little Johnny and Susie, is how pucks are born.
Just in case you were curious how pucks are made
— Hockey Out of Context Loves Canada (@nhloutofcontext.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
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- Demko really started to look like himself again in the third period, even as he gave up two goals. He made a brilliant save on Mercer after the forward’s centring pass deflected back to him at the side of the net. Demko scrambled back and flashed out his pad in a rapier-like fashion to kick the puck into the corner. Except, less of a rapier, and more of a broadsword, because a rapier would be too skinny to stop a puck.
- “I’m just trying to get my legs underneath me,” said Demko to Petrillo. “It’s that time of year where the playoff games are starting now. It’s tight hockey. I was finding my legs the first couple of periods there but it ended up working out.”
- The Canucks had a strong power play in the third period where they were whipping the puck around the offensive zone with confidence and authority, only for their sticks to let them down. First Brock Boeser’s stick snapped in half on a one-timer, then Quinn Hughes’ stick exploded at the point. I suspect chicanery on the part of his younger brother, rigging all of Hughes’ sticks with hairline cracks. Boeser’s stick just broke like a normal stick.
- The Devils took the 2-1 lead in the third period thanks to a little luck and Aatu Räty getting beat on the backcheck. Räty got caught skating backwards in the neutral zone, turning what should have been a 3-on-3 into a 3-on-2. Brendan Dillon’s shot went wide and ricocheted off the boards right to Meier, the guy Räty should have had, and he finished into the open net.
- On the positive side for Räty, he was aces in the faceoff circle, going 9-and-2. That improves his faceoff percentage on the season to a team-leading 57.5%. If he was better defensively and had a touch more speed, he would already be in the NHL as a faceoff specialist.
- “I think on the faceoffs, he’s really good,” said Tocchet. “We’ve still got to work with him in our own end. It’s down low and knowing where to go — I think it’s more that it’s a fast league up here, so we’ve got to figure it out. But the draws, he’s really good.”
- The Canucks responded 45 seconds later. Jonathan Lekkerimäki protected the puck down low, then cut up the boards and laid off the puck for Derek Forbort on a scissor play. Forbort fed Åman for a point-blank chance, then stayed down low to find Lekkerimäki sneaking into the slot. Forbort’s saucer pass was a thing of beauty, landing right on Lekkerimäki’s tape, and he one-timed the puck across his body — not an easy shot — and sent it off the post and in.
- I didn’t know Forbort could do that. I’m not sure Forbort knew he could do that. Good gravy, what a pass.
- “I’m trying to get [Lekkerimäki] some chemistry with some guys,” said Tocchet. “Gotta try to find some more minutes for him. Two beautiful shots for us. The second in the shootout was obviously great but that other one is a goalscorer’s goal. To me, that was the impressive one.”
- The good feelings from the tying goal didn’t last long, as the Devils took the lead back less than two minutes later when Teddy Blueger blew his coverage on a defensive zone faceoff. Blueger lost the draw to Erik Haula — no big deal, it happens — but then he didn’t stick with Haula as he drove to the net. That meant Haula was wide open to tap in a Brian Dumoulin rebound. It was too easy a goal for the preseason, let alone crunch time with the season on the line. I’m afraid Blueger knows nothing of the crunch.
- With Demko pulled for the extra attacker, the Canucks poured on the pressure and got a greasy goal in the final minute. Hughes played a key role, shifting away from Meier to create a shooting lane and firing the puck on net. Jake DeBrusk tipped the puck off the post and the scramble was on, with DeBrusk, Suter, and Conor Garland all trying to get to the loose puck. Suter poked the puck through Markstrom’s legs, then it deflected in off Garland’s skate. It was such chaos that the goal was credited to all three forwards, first to DeBrusk, then to Suter, and finally to Garland.
- “I think someone tipped it and it hit the post and came out, then everybody took a whack at it,” said Suter. “It went over the line, that’s all that matters.”
- Overtime was wild, with Hughes kicking things off with an early breakaway to force a great Markstrom save, then Demko’s incredible save in the full splits. With just seconds left, DeBrusk sent Lekkerimäki in alone and he shot just wide, with Markstrom cheating to his glove side to give him no room to shoot. Lekkerimäki might have been taking notes.
- Since all three forwards touched the puck, Hughes didn't get an assist on the game-tying goal. He finished without a point for the first time in seven games but his fingerprints were all over the game. He played a whopping 31:38 in ice time, tied Suter with a game-high six shots on goal, and tilted the ice every time he stepped over the boards, with shots on goal 11-to-5 for the Canucks when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. That's in spite of getting the assignment of shutting down the Devils' top line. Hughes was stupendous.
- The last-minute goal sent the game to the shootout, where DeBrusk got the Canucks on the board first. DeBrusk came in cool as a cucumber wearing sunglasses and sent a confident snap shot over Markstrom’s glove.
- Jesper Bratt replied for the Devils with a deke to the backhand but that was the lone puck to get behind Demko in the shootout. After Markstrom stopped Garland and Suter — only just barely in the case of Garland, sweeping his stick out to get a piece of Garland’s deke to the backhand — that set the stage for Lekkerimäki to win the game.
- Lekkerimäki didn’t just beat Markstrom with a wristshot; he made him look foolish. Lekkerimäki was looking glove side the whole way in and Markstrom bit, cheating up with his glove and pad the way he did in overtime. That’s when Lekkerimäki toe-dragged the puck a good five feet to change the shooting angle and fired the puck into a wide-open blocker side of the net, while still looking glove side.
- Markstrom was apoplectic after the goal and snapped his stick on the post. I can’t really blame him: Lekkerimäki moved the puck like it was the knight in chess. It doesn’t feel fair. Just look at where Lekkerimäki started his shot and where he actually released the puck. What is a goaltender supposed to do?
- “That was a gut feeling — not by me,” said Tocchet. “I can’t take credit for that. I think Marko [Torenius] radioed to Yogi, ‘Let’s go with Lekkerimäki.’ Obviously, a great choice…Usually, the goalie coach has a lot of input with shootouts. And then you watch practices, I mean, the guy’s a gifted goalscorer, so why not?”
- Honestly, everyone should have known he was going to score. Check out the cocky little stick twirl before he picked up the puck at centre ice. There was no doubt in his mind that the puck was going in.
- “Did he stick twirl? We might have to have a chat with him about that,” said Demko with a wide smile. “But big goal, so I’m sure he’s feeling himself a little bit.”
- “Honestly, this has been the longest year ever,” said Hughes to ESPN. “It’s been a year of adversity with guys in and out — pretty much everyone on the team, no one’s played a full season. I know a lot of teams go through that but…I’m really proud of our group. We’ve got a lot of care. We’re going to try to do everything we can to make the playoffs this year and I believe we can. But if that doesn’t happen, what we’re building here for the next couple of years — just the care factor — I’m liking what I’m seeing.”
