With the win against the Islanders, the Canucks are now 3-0-0 on their current road trip.
The Thatcher Demko dominance tour continued tonight, as the Vancouver Canucks won 4–1 against the New York Islanders. While the Canucks goaltender’s shutout streak ended at 150:53 minutes tonight, he stopped 21 of 22 shots faced. Demko wasn’t the only player to make a big impact tonight, as Kiefer Sherwood scored his third career hat trick, while David Kämpf got his first goal as a member of the Canucks.
One of the most exciting things leading up to this matchup was the young talent on display on the blueline in Islanders defenceman Matthew Schaefer and new Canuck Zeev Buium. The two defencemen were first and second respectively in scoring by a rookie defender with 23 and 16 points each heading into tonight’s game. Both defenders showed why they’re two of the brightest young defenders in the NHL on both sides of the puck tonight: Schaefer doing-so with a strong drive to the Canucks’ net after exiting the penalty box, and Buium adding to it by making a skilled play to snatch the puck off an Islander’s stick to regain possession on the power play.
The Canucks’ penalty kill has been a talking point as of late. While they’d been infamous for hovering near dead-last in the league for a good chunk of the season, Vancouver has since bounced-back in the past few games, killing all seven taken prior to tonight. Today, Vancouver started things off by ending up in a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation after taking a too-many-men call as well as a hook while on their first penalty kill, though the Canucks managed to kill both. Vancouver ended the night going a perfect four-for-four on the penalty kill.
Tonight resulted in another strong game for Demko who, despite not facing overly dangerous chances early on, stood tall to help his team escape the first period with a 3–0 lead. The only shot he surrendered during that span of time was tipped past him with a high-stick and was ultimately called off. By the time the Islanders began generating more chances on even-strength and on the power play, Demko was already primed to stop as much as he could. New York’s first goal of the game came with around five minutes left in the third period after emptying their net to go 6-on-5.
"It's a reflection of the team game a lot of nights," Demko said post-game of the team's effort. "When I look good, that typically means that they're playing well and doing their job."
Another player who stood out tonight was Evander Kane, who didn’t quite get on the scoresheet but had plenty of opportunities to do so. He nearly managed two breakaway chances during the second period, though his second opportunity was negated by the Islanders, resulting in a drawn penalty instead. The forward was consistently first into the O-zone for his team, maintaining a high level of energy throughout the game.
Stats and Facts:
- Tyler Myers plays in his 1100th career NHL game
- With the 1–0 goal tonight, David Kämpf scores his first point as a Canuck
- Kiefer Sherwood scores his second hat trick of the season
- Demko makes his 250th career NHL start
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
8:57 - VAN: David Kämpf (1) from Jake DeBrusk
10:35 - VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (14) from Evander Kane and Marcus Pettersson
15:47 - VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (15) from Filip Hronek and Tom Willander (PPG)
2nd Period:
No Scoring.
3rd Period:
14:55 - NYI: Anders Lee (9) from Calum Ritchie and Mathew Barzal
18:37 - VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (16) from Filip Hronek
Up Next:
Vancouver is back in action tomorrow night as they travel to Boston to take on the Boston Bruins, facing former Canucks Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov in doing so. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 pm PT.
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