Thatcher Demko was spectacular on home ice last season to lay the foundation as a Vezina Trophy finalist with a 21-5-1 mark and four shutouts.
St. Louis Blues vs. Vancouver Canucks
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When and where: Tuesday, 7 p.m., Rogers Arena
TV: SN Pacific. Radio: Sportsnet 650
The buzz: Will he or won’t he?
While bargain free-agent acquisition Kevin Lankinen has been remarkable in relief with his 13-4-3 run — including 10 straight road wins to start this season to set an NHL record — getting a Vezina Trophy finalist back in the net is critical to the team’s success.
Demko was spectacular on home ice last season to lay the foundation for a Vezina Trophy nomination. His 21-5-1 mark included superlatives among starters who logged at least 25 games. Demko was first with fewest losses, second in goals-against average (2.32), save percentage (.925) and shutouts (four), and fourth in wins.
Demko, 29, was also a key cog in turning the once cringeworthy penalty kill into a credible unit. As the last line of defence, he got into that zone where it took something special to beat him — screen, tip or weird bounce — because if he saw the puck, he was going to stop it.
With the Canucks looking tardy with player and space tracking on the penalty kill Sunday — surrendering two power-play goals to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-2 setback — home-ice help is on the way. The Canucks have made major leaps with their special teams by moving into the top half of the NHL rankings.
Before Sunday, it went 18-for-20 over a six-game span and sits 24th at 80 per cent efficiency. Improving missing defending tactics Sunday by giving up the seam should help lift that number Tuesday.
Kiefer Sherwood and Danton Heinen moved too high on the kill to allow the second Lightning power-play goal.
“They got twisted around and Sherwood pressed and should have stayed back,” added Tocchet. “We would have got back in our diamond (formation) and were in a box situation.”
The hope: Hughes can see and feel enough to do more damage with a mashed-up mug. The captain took a high stick to the face in the first minute Sunday, got stitched up and donned a cage upon his return later in the frame. He opened the scoring with his 50th career goal to move into 10th place in franchise goals by a blueliner.
The fear: Don’t sleep on the Blues with the Panthers here Thursday and the Bruins on Saturday. New bench boss Jim Montgomery has the Blues believing again with a 4-2-0 start under his guidance.
The top guns: Hughes has 13 points (3-10) in his last six games to sit second among his peers in blueliner scoring with 32 points (7-25), just three back of Cale Makar with three games in hand. Jake DeBrusk has 11 points (9-2) in his last eight games, including his second career hat trick.
The quote: “I liked our 5-on-5 play and we were fine. Special teams won the game for them and their best players too.” — Tocchet on Sunday’s loss to the Lightning.
The lineup:
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Joshua-Suter-Garland
Hoglander-Blueger-Sherwood
Raty-Sasson-Heinen
Hughes-Myers
Soucy-Juulsen
Brannstrom-Desharnais
Demko
The prediction: The Canucks win the special-teams battle — the Blues are 22nd on the penalty kill and 26th on the power play — to take a step in the right direction on home ice with a 4-2 win.