Late in the first frame, however, Canucks defender Noah Juulsen collided with Demko, and the Vancouver starter stood up slowly, appearing to favour his left knee. That’s the same knee that Demko injured late last season and then sustained an unprecedented tear in in Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

J.T. Miller scored in the shootout and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Seattle Kraken 4-3 on Thursday night. Conor Garland, Tyler Myers and Max Sasson scored in regulation for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko started and stopped 11 of 12 shots before leaving with back spasms in the second period.

For the second time in a week, the Kraken turned the tables on Vancouver with their goaltender pulled, but this time Seattle eventually fell 4-3 to the Canucks in a shootout.