Thatcher Demko stops 33 photographs, Canucks beat Blackhawks 3-0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Thatcher Demko stopped 33 photographs for his first shutout of the season and third total within the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night time.

“He’s just solid,” coach Rick Tocchet mentioned of his goalie. “Even a few of the saves he made, I feel they have been grade-A saves, however they’re routine. He simply appeared massive within the web tonight, like nothing was going to get by him.

“Even when they had a couple of backdoor chances, he was there, post to post.”

The final time Demko and the Canucks (35-36-7) had a shutout was Dec. 6, 2021 after they beat the L.A. Kings 4-0 of their first sport below then-head coach Bruce Boudreau.

Asked Thursday if he realized how way back that outcome was, Demko smiled and answered merely.

“No,” he mentioned. “I try to stop them all every night. It doesn’t always work out that way but it feels good.”

PHOTOS: Thatcher Demko stops 33 photographs, Canucks beat Blackhawks 3-0

Andrei Kuzmenko, Vitali Kravtsov and J.T. Miller – into the empty web – scored and defenseman Akito Hirose had two assists to assist the Canucks finish a four-game shedding streak.

Alex Stalock stopped 26 photographs for the Blackhawks. They have been coming off a 4-3 victory at Calgary on Tuesday night time, however have misplaced 9 of 10.

“We still kept plugging to the end and that’s kind of been the way we work all year,” mentioned Chicago coach Luke Richardson. “We’ll just keep staying positive and know that we’ve had a couple of stale games earlier in the year, and we usually come back and get some goals the next game.”

The Canucks went up 2-0 early within the second interval after Jonathan Toews was known as for hooking. Kravtsov fired a one-timer into the web for his first purpose for Vancouver 3:53 into the body. The Canucks acquired the 23-year-old winger from the New York Rangers on the finish of February.

Kuzmenko opened the scoring with a long-range blast 16:16 into the sport.

Stationed on the level, the Russian winger fired a rocket by site visitors and previous Stalock’s glove for his thirty eighth purpose of the season.

Canucks defenseman Cole McWard made his NHL debut. The 21-year-old signed a two-year, entry-level cope with Vancouver on Tuesday after finishing his second season at Ohio State.

SWEPT UP

Vancouver received all three conferences between the 2 sides this season. Thursday’s outcome adopted a 5-2 victory at Rogers Arena on Jan. 24 and a 4-2 win in Chicago on March 26.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: At Seattle on Saturday night time.