`Doesn't look good': Canucks' Demko misses Game 2, status up in air
The Vancouver Canucks need 28 players to make a deep run to the Stanley Cup, head coach Rick Tocchet figures.
Tocchet already is going to have to dig deep in his bag because goaltender Thatcher Demko is suddenly out of action.
Demko wasn't available for Game 2 of his team's playoff series against the Nashville Predators late Tuesday in Vancouver and his status for the series is up in the air, the coach revealed after his team's optional morning skate at Rogers Arena.
Demko is dealing with a knee issue, a source told Postmedia.
“Doesn't look good,” they said.
“It wasn't the old injury,” Tocchet clarified. Demko missed six weeks near the end of the season after suffering a knee injury March 9 versus Winnipeg.
Casey Desmith got the start in Game 2.
“All year we've had people step up — in and out of the lineup. Casey, he played a big game against Edmonton, what was it, 10 days ago? A huge game to win the division. He's it done all year for us. So just march forward,” he said.
“You're going to have people step up and the team step up. That's the mentality.”
NYLANDER POSSIBLE FOR GAME 3
Whether William Nylander makes his series debut in Game 3 on Wednesday as the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins shifts back to Toronto, well, coach Sheldon Keefe wouldn't say.
“No update (on Nylander),” Keefe said Tuesday before the Leafs headed home. “Not much happening for us here except for getting ready to travel, but he is a possibility for us (for Game 3), I guess is all we would say.”
JOURNEY PAYS OFF FOR FEDOTOV
Goaltender Ivan Fedotov signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract with the Flyers on Tuesday, less than a month after joining the team and nine years after his complicated and secretive journey to Philadelphia began.
Fedotov made his long-awaited Flyers debut earlier this month after being selected in the seventh round of the 2015 draft. He was able to join the team after CSKA Moscow terminated his contract in Russia's KHL.
The 27-year-old went 0-1-1 with a 4.95 GAA and a .811 save percentage in three games (one start) with Philadelphia this season.
He went 21-22-1 with a 2.37 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 44 games in the KHL.
Fedotov initially signed with the Flyers in May 2022 and attempted to come to North America two months later. But he was taken by authorities to a remote military base in the Arctic Circle for a year of service.