VANCOUVER – One thousand games as a National Hockey League coach, and never a weekend like this one for Bruce Boudreau.’ 66-year-old head coach learned Friday that star goalie Thatcher Demko was following backup Jaroslav Halak into COVID-19 protocol, then watched that night as minor-league callup Spencer Martin was outstanding in his first NHL game in nearly five years, allowing only one goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
In his second NHL start, and first in nearly three years since he was an emergency recall from junior, DiPietro lost 3-1 to the Blues despite Vancouver outshooting St. Louis 39-17. And just so you fully understand the depth of the Canucks’ almost-comical netminding crisis, the Abbotsford Canucks’ starting goalie in a pair of weekend wins against the San Diego Gulls was someone named Joe Murdaca, a 23-year who is now on his fourth professional tryout in the minors this season but who until Saturday had never played a game above the ECHL level. .
There was still some magic dust drifting around Rogers Arena at the start of Sunday’s game when DiPietro, whose only other NHL start was Feb. 11, 2019 when he was literally thrown to the Sharks in a 7-2 loss to San Jose, saved the first nine St. Louis shots. “They tried their butt off,” Boudreau said of his depleted lineup. “I mean, there's no doubt. Anytime you can hold this team to 17 shots or St. Louis to seven shots , and that's including a power-play goal... you've done what you're supposed to do. It's just right now we're having a hard time scoring. A couple breakaways here and there and we have a couple of great looks, and the one time we do score we have two guys jump on the ice .
imacSportsnet It’s a joke, the Leafs had, what 2 players in protocol and the league let them postpone games. Other teams like Canucks have their best player, their captain, 3 others and 3 goalies and they are playing. The NHL is a joke.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: VancouverSun - 🏆 49. / 61 Read more »
Source: VancouverSun - 🏆 49. / 61 Read more »
Source: Sportsnet - 🏆 57. / 59 Read more »
Source: globeandmail - 🏆 5. / 92 Read more »
Source: CBCNews - 🏆 2. / 99 Read more »
Source: Sportsnet - 🏆 57. / 59 Read more »