The Vancouver Canucks could be in trouble.
Starting goaltender and 2024 Vezina Trophy runner-up Thatcher Demko left Thursday’s game against the Seattle Kraken and was replaced between the pipes by Kevin Lankinen. He was ruled out by the team prior to the third period, but did not specify his ailment.
Though it was not immediately clear when Demko was injured, he did make a sprawling save on Oliver Bjorkstrand just minutes before leaving the ice. Canucks defenceman Noah Juulsen also skated into Demko earlier, and the netminder was slow to get up off of the ice.
Demko, 29, missed the first two months of the season with a knee injury that he suffered in Game 1 of the playoffs. He made his season debut on Dec. 10 against the St. Louis Blues and has started in six games prior to Thursday, with a 3.43 goals-against average and .879 save percentage.
Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy reported during the intermission that the Canucks would be dressing an emergency backup.
Demko, the 36th overall pick by the Canucks in the 2014 NHL Draft, owns a career 2.81 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
