The Vancouver Canucks are going to keep goaltender Thatcher Demko on the bench once again as their backup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Between the pipes in his place will be Kevin Kankinen, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed on Sunday.
Demko returned to the lineup Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a backup role. It was the first time the Canucks starter was dressed for a game since April 21.
The Canucks also assigned goaltender Artus Silovs to the AHL Sunday afternoon.
He suffered an injury to the popliteus muscle in his knee during the game and has been working his way back ever since.
When the 28-year-old netminder from San Diego, California, gets a start remains to be seen, but having Demko back in uniform is an important step, Tocchet said.
"He's a leader on the team. He's a different type of leader," the coach said after morning skate Friday.
"The guy works awfully hard. He's spent a lot of time by himself working out, he's here at 7 a.m. working with one trainer. So I think the what it's contagious to me is the hard work he does. The young guys see this stuff how dedicated he is. I see that really helps our locker room."
Demko had a 35-14-2 record with a .918 save percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts in regular-season play last year and played in an All-Star game for the second time in his career.
Vancouver inked Lankinen to a one-year, $875,000 deal during training camp and he has split the crease with Silovs to start the season, with the pair backstopping the Canucks to a 14-7-4 record.
--With files from the Canadian Press.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.