Blues Spoil Demko’s Return, Defeat Canucks 4-3 in Overtime

The Vancouver Canucks (14-8-5) finally had their starter Thatcher Demko back between the pipes as they took on the St. Louis Blues (14-13-2) for the first time this season. The last time Demko started a game was on April 21 when he made 22 saves in a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators.

Unfortunately for Demko and the Canucks, despite a late goal by Jake DeBrusk to tie the game at three, Dylan Holloway scored in overtime to spoil Demko’s return to the lineup and lead the Blues to a 4-3 victory. Holloway extended his point streak to seven games and finished with two points, while Robert Thomas led the way with a goal and two assists. The Canucks had some multipoint efforts as well with Conor Garland and Brock Boeser notching two assists each and Elias Pettersson grabbing a goal and an assist.

Game Recap

The game started slow with both teams taking a bit to get their first shots. Then, two goals were scored in quick succession as Dakota Joshua scored his first of the season off a nice pass from Garland at 8:02 and Zack Bolduc countered with his fourth on a one-timer at 9:15. It stayed 1-1 until 17:30 when the puck got by Garland at the blue line on the power play and Robert Thomas snapped home his fifth career shorthanded goal. The first ended with the Blues up 2-1 and the Canucks having the slight edge in shots on goal 8-7.

The first 15 or so minutes of the second was another slow and sloppy period with both teams struggling to make plays. The Blues, however, had the better chances as they were stopped on a few breakaways by Demko. Then, on a power play after a questionable tripping call on Brock Boeser, Jordan Kyrou, one of the players that had one of those breakaways, one-timed a pass from Thomas to make it 3-1. The Canucks got a power play of their own a couple of minutes later when Colton Parayko, the player that was “tripped” by Boeser, tipped a Pettersson pass into his own net to make it a one-goal game going into the third.

The final frame was pretty uneventful until the final two minutes as shots were hard to come by. The Canucks got some late pressure with Demko on the bench and DeBrusk scored his team-leading 13th of the season to tie it at three and send the game to overtime. The Blues controlled play for the entire 3-on-3 session until Holloway ended it busting down the right wing and roofing it over Demko for his 10th goal and seventh in his past six games.

Demko had a strong game in his return making several big saves to keep the Canucks in the game in the second and third periods. He finished with 21 saves on 25 shots while Joel Hofer countered with 22 saves on 25 shots.

What’s Next For the Canucks & Blues?

The Canucks will continue their six-game homestand on Thursday as they welcome in the Florida Panthers. The Blues, meanwhile, will head back to St. Louis to play the San Jose Sharks, also on Thursday.