Crease committee has Canucks sniffing next round
Three different goalies have backstopped the Canucks to victories this post-season, giving Vancouver a 3-1 edge in their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. Now the team must decide who will be in net for a pivotal Game 5 on Tuesday.
All-star Thatcher Demko, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy with Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, got the start when Vancouver kicked off its post-season campaign on April 21. After missing 14 games with a knee injury, the 28-year-old American returned for the final two contests of the regular season, then turned away 20 shots in Vancouver’s Game 1 win.
Demko was sidelined by a lowerbody injury ahead of Game 2 and Casey DeSmith stepped in. With the 32-year-old backup in place, Vancouver dropped a 4-1 decision, then downed Nashville 2-1 in Game 3 for the first playoff victory of DeSmith’s six-season career.
But news emerged hours before the puck dropped in Game 4 Sunday
that DeSmith was dealing with an undisclosed injury and Silovs would be making his first NHL playoff appearance. Silovs spent much of the season with Vancouver’s AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, B.C., making just four regular-season appearances for the NHL club. Still, there was no panic when staff decided DeSmith couldn’t play.
“(Silovs) doesn’t look nervous to me, even before the game,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said. “I don’t think the moment’s too big for him. I like his demeanour.”
The 23-year-old Latvian stopped 27 shots as the Canucks rallied late in the third period to erase a twogoal deficit and force the extra frame before Elias Lindholm sealed the victory with a goal 62 seconds into overtime.
Silovs, 23, led Latvia to bronze — its first medal — at the world hockey championship last May and was named MVP of the tournament. “It was like the same atmosphere, I would say.”
Tocchet said after Sunday’s game that he expects DeSmith to be an option for Game 5.
Hellebuyck needs help
Hellebuyck’s coach and teammates believe he deserves the Vézina. And they know deserves more help in front of him if the Jets are to avoid being bounced out of the playoffs by Colorado on Tuesday, having lost three straight and are down 3-1 in their series.
“He is No. 1 for me. It’s very well deserved,” Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of the Vezina nomination. “He is the backbone. Every great team has a great goaltender and, listen, this guy is a great goaltender and he deserves it. I just spoke with him about it and he’s pretty excited but he’s more worried about tomorrow night, right? He’s focusing on that.”
Hellebuyck posted a 37-19-4 record with a 2.39 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and five shutouts during the regular season. But now he leads all post-season netminders in goals against with 19.
“We have the best goalie in the league and we got to play better in front of him,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “We got to give up less chances, block more shots and compete a little harder.”
Kraken release the coach
The Seattle Kraken fired coach Dave Hakstol on Monday after the third-year franchise took a significant step back following a playoff appearance in their second season.
Hakstol was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year last season after Seattle finished with 100 points and reached the Western Conference semifinals.
But the Kraken failed to match expectations this season and spent most of the year trying to climb back into playoff contention after a terrible start. Seattle finished tied for fifth in the Pacific Division after going 34-35-13. Hakstol went 107112-27 in his three seasons in charge of the Kraken.
“I thank Dave for his hard work and dedication to the Kraken franchise,” GM Ron Francis said in a statement. “Following our end-ofthe-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position. These decisions are never easy, but we feel this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve.
Francis also said assistant coach Paul McFarland would not return.