Vancouver Canucks No. 1 goalkeeper Thatcher Demko returned to Action Monday evening and quickly stopped 22 shots through overtime and three out of four shootouts, which led his team to a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Talk about a huge boost for canucks.
Vancouver, on the outside watching in the middle of a dogfight for the Western conference’s final joke card, can be grateful to have his top network minister back for the first time in more than six weeks and at a time when the team needed him the most.
The day Demko returned announced Canucks more bad news. Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander not only missed the game in New Jersey but had returned to Vancouver and will probably be out for the next three matches on the road trip. Canucks are also without forward Filip Chytil. It is an important issue for a team that sits three points from a playoffs with two other clubs behind them.
The lesson? The injury error will play a massive role in deciding who does the Stanley Cup final game – and in sowing.
With how tight the competitions are for the last places at both conferences, damage has the potential to be devastating. At the same time, healthy returns can be a god -end.
Take Columbus Blue Jackets. They snapped a six-match losing slide with a 4-3 shootout victory over the New York Islanders on Monday. It is no coincidence that their struggle ended on a night veteran defender Erik Gudbranson played for the first time since the season’s opening week and the top line Sean Monahan returned after missing 28 games.
This is the time of the season when players pushing through diseases that should sideways. And when they can’t play, you know it’s serious because so much is at stake.
Look at Edmonton Oilers right now. They will be without both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for the near future. Whether either or both would play if this was Game 7 in an endgame series, we do not know. But regardless of problems, you don’t think for a second that they are smaller.
It is true that Oilers is a solid venture to pass a playoffs soon and even have an external shot at winning the Pacific Division. But considering how things stand, they are in a tight battle with the Los Angeles kings for home-ice advantage in the opening round.
If you do not think it is a big deal, think about this: Oilers and Kings have met in the first round each of the last three seasons, and Edmonton has won every time while keeping the home offset.
It is also a safe venture like Calgary Flames, which is in the wild card fight, would not be too upset if Draisaitl and McDavid remain at least through its meeting on Saturday.
So when you look at games or capture the results, make sure to track who has been on the page or returned to action. These range changes will have a huge impact when the playoffs in the Stanley Cup start on April 19.
You never know what harm will be the one who finally gets rid of a team’s chances – Minnesota Wild’s ability to hang tough is remarkable.
In the same way, you never know whose return will put a team over the top, whether it means simply reaching the playoffs or lifting Hockey’s holy Gral.
And it may be someone that Colorado -Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who seems to increase efforts to return for the first time since he won the Cup 2022.
