Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko has taken another important step back in his recovery from a popliteus muscle injury. Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province reports that the netminder worked on the ice today with goalie coach Marko Torenius before practice today; it’s believed this is his first day back on the ice after working out on his own over the last few weeks. Demko has yet to play this season due to the injury, one that took him out early in the first round of the playoffs back in the spring. That resulted in Vancouver signing Kevin Lankinen early in training camp, a move that has worked out well as he has posted a 2.29 GAA with a .920 SV% in his first six starts.
More from the West:
- Golden Knights winger Mark Stone missed practice today for personal reasons, the team announced (Twitter link). The 32-year-old is off to quite the start to his season, leading the league in scoring with five goals and 14 assists in 11 games. Stone has dealt with lingering back issues for the past several years but fortunately for Vegas, this absence isn’t injury-related. It’s unclear if he will be available for their next game Saturday versus Utah as his wife is ready to give birth to their second child.
- Still with Vegas, the team also noted (Twitter link) that defenseman Nicolas Hague was back at practice today. He has been dealing with an upper-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup for three straight games but he wasn’t moved to injured reserve. The 25-year-old was off to a slow start before the injury, notching one goal, 11 blocks, and nine hits in eight games so far.
- With the Wild back at home for the first time in nearly three weeks, they will indeed welcome Ryan Hartman back to the lineup tonight against Tampa Bay, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo (Twitter link). That was the expected outcome after Liam Ohgren was returned to the minors yesterday. Hartman missed the last five games with an upper-body injury after scoring twice in his first four outings.