Thursday’s NHL playoffs: Canucks beat Golden Knights 4-0 to again avoid elimination

Associated Press

Published 1:22 AM EDT Sep 4, 2020

Edmonton, Alberta — Thatcher Demko stopped 48 shots, Quinn Hughes set an NHL record with a goal and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks staved off elimination for the second straight game with a 4-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday night.

J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist, Jake Virtanen also scored and Bo Horvat added an empty-net goal with 41/2 minutes left. Hughes has 16 points this postseason, one more than the record for rookie defenseman aColorado’s Cale Makar set Wednesday night.

Demko did the rest in his second playoff start, forcing a Game 7 Friday in the Edmonton bubble.

Game 7 is Friday night.

Demko was stellar in Game 5 when Jacob Markstom was deemed unfit to play and was even better Thursday night. The 24-year-old from San Diego stymied the Golden Knights with a series of spectacular saves and helped the Canucks withstand a flurry of shots with a 1-0 lead late in the first period into the second.

Demko has stopped 90 of 91 shots in two starts, leaving the Golden Knights frustrated in their attempt to reach the Western Conference finals for the second time in three years.

Vancouver staved off elimination with a 2-1 win in Game 4 Monday night despite being outshot 43-17. Demko was a big reason, stopping 42 shots in his first playoff start.

The Canucks started slow in Game 5, but swarmed the Golden Knights early in Game 6. Virtanen capitalized, catching Vegas goalie Robin Lehner off-guard with a wraparound through his pads.

The Golden Knights settled into their big-body game after allowing the goal, shutting down Vancouver’s speed and shooting lanes. Vegas held the Canucks without a shot on goal during a 19-minute span into the second period and created numerous good scoring opportunities.

But, like they did in Game 5, the Golden Knights had trouble finding the net. Demko had something to do with it, making numerous spectacular saves, but Vegas sailed shots past the goal nearly as many times.

Vancouver needed 63 seconds of the third period to score again, going up 2-0 when Miller beat Lehner from the right faceoff dot through a screen out front.

Demko stopped Mark Stone’s short-handed breakaway shortly after the goal, then Hughes beat Lehner through a screen from the left circle midway through the third period.

Flyers 5, N.Y. Islanders 4 2/OT: The Philadelphia Flyers credit Oskar Lindblom’s fight against bone cancer for inspiring them all year. Having him back in a game for the first time in nearly nine months provided a big emotional lift in a key playoff game.

Ivan Provorov scored at 15:03 of the second overtime and the Flyers beat the New York Islanders 5-4 on Thursday night to force a deciding Game 7.

“All season he’s been (an inspiration), not just tonight,” goalie Carter Hart said of Lindblom. “Him coming in the lineup and playing definitely gives our team a huge boost of energy. … . It’s pretty amazing what he’s gone through and how much he’s overcome and persevered.”

Flyers captain Claude Giroux agreed.

“The kid has so much courage,” he said. “He played unbelievable, too.”

Kevin Hayes, James van Riemsdyk, Michael Raffl and Scott Laughton also scored for Philadelphia, and Hart made a career-high 49 saves. The Flyers won a third overtime game in a postseason series for the first time.

“Carter kept us in this game,” Giroux said. “He made some huge saves for us and I was pretty glad to see Provy’s shot go in there.”

Mathew Barzal and Derick Brassard each had a goal and an assist, and Anders Lee and Matt Martin also scored for New York, which trailed 2-0 midway through the first period before taking leads of 3-2 and 4-3. Semyon Varlamov stopped 26 shots.

“It’s an unfortunate play there at the end, but it happens,” Barzal said. “Now it’s a winner-take-all Game 7.”

Game 7 is Saturday, with the winner advancing to face Tampa Bay in the conference finals