There was some bad news to come out of an Edmonton Oilers off day. The news is that Vancouver Canucks starting goalie, Thatcher Demko, is injured and may miss the rest of the series against the Nashville Predators. This injury really hurts the Canucks and their chances of coming out of that series.
Hearing Thatcher Demko injured and questionable for rest of series
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 23, 2024
No offence to Casey DeSmith, but Thatcher Demko is a Vensina Trophy calibre goalie. This season Demko had a 0.918 SV% and a 2.45 goals-against average. Compare that to DeSmith's 0.896 SV% and 2.89 GAA. That 0.022 difference in SV% is a big enough gap to make a difference in the Predators/Canucks series.
What Does This Mean For The Edmonton Oilers?
This could have a huge effect on the Edmonton Oilers and their potential route to the Stanley Cup. Going into the first round it was assumed that both the Oilers and Canucks would win and that is what the Pacific Division final would be, the Cancuks vs the Oilers. Now with this injury, things may have changed.
With this huge blow to the Canucks, the Nashville Predators could defeat the Canucks. In game 1 of this series, Demko made a couple of huge saves that I doubt DeSmith would be able to make. If the Predators were able to beat the Canucks then they would face the Oilers next round where I think the Oilers would win.
There is no secret that the Canucks swept the Edmonton Oilers in their season series 4-0, whereas when the Oilers faced the Nashville Predators this year they went 2-1. That is just the one on one stats, when you look at the difference between the Preds and Canucks records the Canucks ended up with 10 more points than the Predators. The Predators are not as good defensively or offensively as the Canucks are. The Canucks have 10 more goals scored and have allowed 25 fewer goals over the whole season.
This is a huge blow for the Canucks, but it could be a huge break for the Edmonton Oilers. Even if Vancouver does defeat the Predators and Demko does come back and is able to play, there is a high chance that he will not be 100%. When it comes to the playoffs you want any advantage you can get and this is potentially a big advantage for the Oilers