VANCOUVER – On unfashionable night time, the Vancouver Canucks had a antique goalie.
It appeared like they were given the antique goalie’s outdated workforce, too.
Now not happy with the black, skate-logo jerseys the workforce wore when it went to the 1994 Stanley Cup Ultimate, goalie Thatcher Demko paid tribute to former Canuck Kirk McLean by way of additionally replicating the enduring goalie’s masks, gloves and pads.
It used to be a outstanding impersonation.
Born a yr after the Canucks misplaced that seven-game ultimate to the New York Rangers, Demko appeared like McLean. Much more unexpected, the Canucks on Thursday appeared like the ones Canucks, pumping in 5 objectives in the second one duration and dumping the Calgary Flames 7-1 at Rogers Enviornment.
Perhaps the Flames had been drained from the entire successful, having triumphed in 10 instantly prior to crashing in opposition to the Canucks. However Vancouver, after a few terrible home-ice appearances lately, performed its perfect sport in a very long time in opposition to the Nationwide Hockey League’s freshest workforce.
The Canucks were given two objectives apiece from stars Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat, scored 3 power-play objectives for the primary time since Nov. 7 and outshot a Stanley Cup-calibre Flames workforce 38-30.
Demko stopped 37 of them whilst beginning reverse his former mentor and goaltending spouse, Jacob Markstrom, and misplaced his shutout on Andrew Magianpane’s three-on-two purpose with simply 2:07 final.
“There is a lot that is going into it for me,” Demko, 26, mentioned of his tribute to McLean. “I all the time you should be very cognizant of. . . who is come prior to me and who is roughly prepared the ground for guys like me coming in into the group. I noticed that we had been simplest dressed in the jersey as soon as this yr, so I knew it used to be a nice alternative to roughly cross all out with it.”
Demko contacted McLean, who’s at the Wall of Honour inside of Rogers Enviornment and does hospitality paintings for the Canucks, to hunt his permission for Thursday’s homage. Demko labored together with his apparatus supplier, CCM, to get the colors and main points on his equipment as on the subject of similar as McLean’s Nineties glance.
“Numerous from side to side and so they nailed it,” Demko mentioned. “Most sensible to backside, it used to be beautiful superior.”
Losers of 2 different Stanley Cup Finals – and out of the playoffs in six of the closing seven years – there was a large number of sadness for the franchise during the last 50 years. However the high quality of Canuck goaltending has hardly ever been disappointing.
From Gary Smith within the mid-Nineteen Seventies, Richard Brodeur within the early Nineteen Eighties, then McLean and, this century, Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider, Markstrom and now Demko, the Canucks have had some remarkable goaltenders.
“It is one thing I am conscious about evidently,” Demko mentioned. “I feel the location has all the time been well-tended to right through the group’s historical past. When you find yourself a goalie, normally, you’ve got a large number of duty. However when you’ve got guys prior to you which can be legends of the sport, I feel it is much more vital to take that weight on each day and just be sure you’re upholding them.”
After breaking thru as a starter closing yr, changing Markstrom, Demko has been one of the vital perfect goalies within the NHL this season.
If simplest the workforce in entrance of him used to be as nice as the man within the crease.
But it surely used to be very best on Thursday, and has been most commonly good-to-excellent since Bruce Boudreau took over as trainer 2 ½ months in the past.
3 video games over .500 for the primary time this season, the Canucks are 3 issues out of a playoff spot within the Western Convention, even supposing maximum groups forward of them have performed fewer video games.
Having trailed 5-0 two times of their earlier 4 domestic video games, the Canucks gave the impression not going to try this once more. One thing extra stunning befell: they led the Flames 5-0.
The five-finger pour of offence got here fully in the second one duration – and in opposition to two goalies after Markstrom broke a skate blade and needed to go away the ice overdue within the body. From the dressing room, he heard the muffled roar of the Rogers Enviornment crowd two times in two mins.
Backup Dan Vladar entered the sport chilly at 18:14 of the second one duration, and in an instant into an uncharacteristically sizzling Canucks continual play. Earlier than he may just make a save, Miller, actually kicking up his business price a notch, booted the puck to Horvat for a semi-open-netter that made it 4-0 at 18:42.
Then, 4 seconds prior to the top of the duration, Miller outwaited and embarrassed Vladar on a slow-motion penalty shot after Calgary defenceman Rasmus Andersson grabbed the puck in his crease all over a scramble.
It used to be a virtuoso duration for Miller, who used to be shifted early within the sport into an even-strength matchup in opposition to the Flames’ best line: Elias Lindholm between wingers Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau. Lindholm had scored in 8 instantly video games, whilst Tkachuk and Gaudreau had blended for 22 issues over that point.
But it surely used to be Miller who ruled the scoresheet, whipping a power-play wrist shot previous Brock Boeser’s display and Markstrom’s shoulder to make it 2-0 at 10:18 of the decisive duration prior to tripling his issues in a while.
Pettersson scored as soon as at the continual play and as soon as shorthanded, giving him 20 issues in his closing 16 video games.
Their unfashionable jerseys rekindled some fond reminiscences of Kirk McLean’s outdated workforce and a failed run to the Cup Ultimate that used to be way more noble than the Canucks’ loss to the Boston Bruins in 2011. However the win used to be additionally a launching level ahead to what’s going to should be a sensational stretch run for the present Canucks to make the playoffs.
They open a four-game highway go back and forth Sunday in Big apple in opposition to the New York Rangers.
“We simply set an ordinary for ourselves for the remainder of the yr,” Miller mentioned. “And that is the reason now not by way of successful by way of six objectives, however it is enjoying the precise approach, being sharp at the particular groups, being able to start out the sport. We’ve got an ordinary. We want to play to that from right here on out. We should not be happy with anything else rather then that, in point of fact.
“That used to be a large take a look at. We had been announcing if you’ll’t stand up for a sport like that at domestic in opposition to one of the vital perfect groups within the league, there is something unsuitable with you.”
