VANCOUVER — Coach Rick Tocchet isn’t revealing who’ll start in net for the Vancouver Canucks when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series tonight.
He says the choice will be a “game-time decision” based on both the health of his goalies and their recent performances.
The Canucks have started three different goalies in the series and each has earned a win, giving Vancouver a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven matchup.
Rookie Arturs Silovs got the start in Game 4, stopping 27 shots in his first NHL playoff appearance as the Canucks came back from a late two-goal deficit to beat the Preds 4-3 in overtime.
He replaced Casey DeSmith, who played Games 2 and 3 before going down with a lower-body injury. All-star goalie Thatcher Demko was in net for Vancouver in Game 1, but sustained a lower-body injury and is currently listed as week to week.
Tocchet says if DeSmith “had a good day” yesterday and if he doesn’t start Game 5, he will likely be the backup.
