VANCOUVER – Goalie Thatcher Demko guided his Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, stopping 36-of-39 shots in his second-ever NHL appearance.
Alex Edler, Sven Baertschi, Brock Boeser Loui Eriksson all scored for Vancouver (22-21-6).
The Sabres (24-18-6) got goals from Evan Rodrigues, Kyle Okposo and Sam Reinhart.Linus Ullmark had 19 saves.
WATCH: Thatcher Demko stones Jeff Skinner with nice pad save
Demko – who played a single game for Vancouver last season – was called up from the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets on Jan. 4 after the club traded backup netminder Anders Nilsson to the Ottawa Senators.
The 23-year-old goalie was tested early and often on Friday, and put up an performance that had the crowd chanting “Dem-Ko!” in appreciation for some highlight reel-worthy stops.
Buffalo’s Rodrigues beat the young goaltender to get the scoring started 8:48 in after Rasmus Ristolainen got a pass to the left-winger down low and Rodrigues chipped it up over Demko’s pad.