NASHVILLE — Goaltenders look like they are alone on the ice, but Casey DeSmith is not.
Not only does he have teammates around him, blocking pucks and blocking out and doing everything they can to help the Vancouver Canucks’ emergency starter, but DeSmith still has Thatcher Demko nearby, too.
Two games after DeSmith was dropped into the buckling pressure of the Stanley Cup Playoffs due to Demko’s second knee injury in six weeks, the 32-year-old career backup won his first National Hockey League playoff game Friday as the Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 despite being outshot 30-12.
One of the first to congratulate DeSmith was Demko, who is on the road with the Canucks while rehabbing an injury that coach Rick Tocchet reiterated Friday morning has the Vezina Trophy candidate out “week to week.”
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“He just said he believed in me,” DeSmith said of the conversation he had with Demko during the changeover in the crease. “He’s watched me all year and he knows my game and he said he’s excited to watch me and he wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it. Really meaningful words coming from a really good goalie.
“Couldn’t ask for a better guy to learn from as far as, you know, just the excellence he has as far as being a goalie. He’s very passionate about goaltending and it rubs off on me. Hopefully, he would say the same (about me) but he’s a really hard worker, and he’s also a really good friend. He’s been really supportive every time that I’ve been in there. Whether he’s been injured or it’s just my turn, he’s always more than supportive for me and I’ve really enjoyed his friendship.”
Until we see otherwise or the Canucks are eliminated, it could be DeSmith’s turn for a while.
Friday’s win gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead in a first-round series in which Vancouver, after its 50-win regular season, still hasn’t found its top level. But it was DeSmith’s first win after being the surprise starter in Tuesday’s Game 2 loss in Vancouver after Demko was injured, likely in the final minute, of the series opener two days earlier.
DeSmith is in his ninth season of professional hockey and has spent most of the last six years in the NHL. Friday was his third career start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and win No. 1.
“It couldn’t come at a better time,” he said. “I was really disappointed with the result the other night; I thought the team played great the other night and, you know, didn’t get the result they deserved. So it means a lot.”
DeSmith isn’t just trying to replace the starter; he’s trying to replace one of the best goalies in the world. Every playoff projection for the Canucks was predicated on Demko providing elite goaltending, and so a lot of people, understandably, figured the Canucks’ playoff chances went down with Demko.
Instead, after two games with DeSmith, the Canucks are back where they were when Demko was injured: leading the series by one and with home-ice advantage should it go eventually to a seventh game.
“There’s a little bit of added pressure when you’re replacing a guy of his stature,” DeSmith admitted. “He’s been the heart and soul of this team for the whole year, and to lose him obviously really hurts, especially come crunch time like playoffs. But it’s just part of the job for me. It’s something that I, you know, I believe in myself. I believe in my ability and I believe in my ability to step in. And maybe I won’t be Thatcher Demko but I’ll try and be Casey DeSmith and just hope it’s enough. The other night, it wasn’t enough and tonight, it was enough.”
As we said, DeSmith had help from his friends, who were as happy as he was with the win because the amiable backup is one of the most popular guys on the team.
One game after the Predators blocked 34 shots and had, according to Tocchet, a greater will to defend than the Canucks had to score, Vancouver skaters blocked 30 Nashville shots on Friday.
The size of the defence built for Tocchet by general manager Patrik Allvin was evident as the Canucks, whose bottom-four blue liners average six-foot-five and nearly 230 pounds, largely kept the Predators away from the middle of the ice in front of DeSmith.
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There were so few second-chance shots for Nashville that DeSmith’s rebound, toe-save on Luke Evangelista in the second period stood out as a highlight. So did the goalie’s work during the frantic final half of the third period after Brock Boeser’s tripping penalty and Nikita Zadorov’s puck-over-glass infraction – one call as questionable as the other was obvious – began at 9:07 of the final period and overlapped for 21 seconds.
The Canucks killed both disadvantages as their short-handed unit, embarrassingly inept last season, went five-for-five while Vancouver’s power play finished two-for-three. J.T. Miller scored one goal and set up the other for Brock Boeser, who screened Nashville goalie Juuse Saros on his linemate’s marker at 13:23 of the opening period.
“Those guys . . . are doing an unbelievable job for us,” Miller, who registered half of the Canucks’ playoff record-low 12 shots, said of the penalty killers. “They take so much pride in that area of the rink. It’s nice to see after the last couple of years (when)… our penalty kill kind of failed and let us down sometimes. In years prior, when you get that power play (for Nashville) in the third, you know they’re scoring. It was a terrible feeling. But I’m super happy for them and we’re going to need them moving forward.”
The Predators didn’t score until Evangelista picked a corner on DeSmith with 3:12 remaining after stepping around Canuck Elias Lindholm, who had stumbled.
With Nashville chasing most of the game, and Vancouver defending a two-goal lead for half of it, first-pairing Canuck defencemen Quinn Hughes (19:29) and Filip Hronek (18:57) logged less ice time than Tyler Myers (21:58) and Zadorov (20:46). Ian Cole played 19:18 and led the Canucks with five blocks, while Carson Soucy logged 17:25.
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“We’re ecstatic with a win,” Tocchet said. “But we’ve got to make some improvements. I like the way we defended, but I think the neutral zone, we can shore up that.”
No doubt, Tocchet will be working on it Saturday with his team, which has practice ice scheduled. Game 4 is here Sunday afternoon.
Tocchet said Friday’s positives were “the power play, Casey DeSmith, and our D zone coverage.” He may have had the order slightly wrong.
“I just thought Casey,” Tocchet said, “especially after the first period, I think one of the coaches said: ‘You know, Casey looks good tonight.’ You could just tell that he had it.”
