Injuries have caused the Vancouver Canucks to change goalies for the third time in their first four playoff games.
Thanks to Casey DeSmith and now Arturs Silovs winning their first postseason games, the Canucks are making history and are one win away from the next round.
Silovs made 27 saves in his NHL playoff debut on Sunday as Vancouver came back to defeat Nashville 4-3 in overtime.
A sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Silovs said he felt a bit overwhelmed at the end of the game and didn’t know who hugged him first. With All-Star Thatcher Demko and then DeSmith both injured, Silovs found out on Saturday that he would be starting.
“It was great. My time to shine,” Silovs said.
The Canucks are only the second team in NHL history to have three different goalies win each of their first three postseason games. They also did it in the 2004 Western quarterfinals with Dan Cloutier, Johan Hedberg, and Alex Auld.
Chicago in the 1972 quarterfinals was the only other team in NHL history with three different goalies to win a game at any point in a series.
The Canucks started Demko in Game 1, but he’s now out with an injury. DeSmith started Games 2 and 3 and got his first postseason victory on Friday. DeSmith was hit hard by Predators forward Michael McCarron, resulting in a fine for McCarron. DeSmith was seen at practice on Saturday.
Coach Rick Tocchet said DeSmith is dealing with an injury. Asked who will start in net for Game 5 on Tuesday, Tocchet said they would assess DeSmith’s condition on Monday.
