- The Canucks suffered elimination from the NHL playoffs, losing game 7 vs. Golden Knights, 0-3.
- All three goals occurred in the final period.
- Vancouver had a chance to break the match, but they failed to utilize Vegas’s major penalty.
- Golden Knights face Dallas Stars in the WCF.
Thatcher Demko Couldn’t Save Canucks This time
After allowing one goal in the past two games and stopping 90 shots, Thatcher Demko’s magic disappeared today. Though, we need to say that his teammates didn’t help him at all. The backup goalie who started the last three games, posted 33 saves, but couldn’t prevent the Golden Knight’s surge in the final six minutes of the match.
During that time, the first-placed team in the Western Conference scored three goals, putting an end to this very tough series.
“Demko, especially in this last couple of games, was unbelievable. We wouldn’t be in these situations without him. … He was a brick wall for us.”Canucks’ captain Bo Horvat stated.
Shea Theodore scored the first goal at 13:52 inside the final frame. It was a snap-shot that took place just five seconds since the start of the power-play Vegas obtained following JT Miller’s penalty.
Green realized that he doesn’t have anything to wait for and that he needs to attack immediately in order to avoid the elimination. He would then pull out Demko to have an extra attacker, but that move didn’t bring any god to Vancouver, as they conceded two more goals until the end.
Alex Tuch and Paul Stastny delivered final blows to the Canadian team, who couldn’t recover from the initial shock on such short notice.
“We shouldn’t hang our heads. You’ve got to give them the credit. They have a good hockey team over there,” Horvath added.
The Canucks had a chance to change to flow of the match earlier during the game. Ryan Reaves head checked Tyler Motte, and the officials instantly excluded him with a match penalty. Over the next five minutes, Vancouver had a player more on the ice, and they couldn’t score. Throughout that stretch, the Canucks had just one shot on goal.
It turned out that Golden Knights received a morale boost after managing to defend themselves, creating a swing that eventually brought down Vancouver.
“You have to give (Canucks coach) Travis Green and his group a ton of credit for how they battled and hung in there and pushed us right to the edge,” Vegas’ head coach Peter DeBoer said.
Golden Knights Meet Dallas Stars in the West Finals
The Stars eliminated Colorado Avalanche, also after seven games. Last night’s game was pretty intense and Dallas had to go through overtime in order to secure the advance to the finals.
Stars had a 3-1 lead before allowing the Avalanche to come back and bring drama into this series. Eventually, they survived.
The first game of the Western Conference finals is this Sunday at 8 pm ET.
