Canucks shut out Jets, 5-0 Demko, DeSmith combine for shutout

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In Vancouver, five different skaters scored for the Canucks in a 5-0 shutout of the visiting Winnipeg Jets.

Quinn Hughes had a pair of assists in the win.

“Feel really good, but I’ll give you the old cliche answer that tomorrow is a new day and we’ve just got to keep going, can’t get too high or too low,” Hughes said. “After beating some of those teams we just beat and the way we beat them, only allowing three goals in four games, obviously [Demko] was a big part of that, and Casey coming in, finishing it off, but feel real good about how we’re playing.”

The Canucks scored three times in the opening stanza to effectively take the Jets out of the game.

Thatcher Demko got the start for the Canucks, and made 12 saves before departing the ice early in the middle frame with an apparent injury.

“I don’t think it’s too serious, but I don’t know,” Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. “I can’t speculate. I haven’t talked to the doctor.”

Casey DeSmith made 10 saves in relief.

“It was nice to have a little heads up, just to get the mind right before going in, take it from there,” DeSmith said. “I have no idea what’s going on. Obviously, I hope for the best and hopefully, it’s just a couple of days thing and he moves forward with no complications or anything. Obviously, not the circumstances I like to be a part of a game, but that’s a heck of a win against a really good team. And just to go drop of the puck, all the way to the end of the game and really take it to them, that was an impressive win for the team.”

The Canucks improved to 42-17-7 off their fourth straight win.

J.T. Miller opened the scoring at 2:05 of the first to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead, scoring off a second effort rebound

Nils Hoglander  pushed the advantage to 2-0 at 13:47, scoring off an odd man rush.

“He’s been terrific for us, energy wise,” Tocchet said. “There’s been games where we’re maybe not on our game, and he’ll just do something, whether it’s heavy forecheck or get a big goal, to ignite our team. He’s an igniter.”

Phillip Di Giuseppe struck with three minutes left on the clock in the first for the 3-0 lead headed to the middle frame.

“I just didn’t get it up,” the Jets’ Mason Appleton said of a missed shot he took. “Good save, but I had half of the net to work with. If I elevated that puck. That’s just what it was. Five seconds later, it’s in the back of our net and we’re down [3-0]. That was kind of tough to swallow there.

The Jets dropped to 40-18-5.

“Whatever my message was before the game was clearly wrong,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “It starts with that, I guess. The bottom line is that’s the worst game we have played in my two years here. By far. Because we didn’t have one player play a good game. Not one. It starts there. And it ends there. It’s as simple as that.”

In the second period, Elias Pettersson stretched the lad to 4-0 at 4:04, scoring off a power play.

Pius Suter   scored at 15:06 of the third for the 5-0 final count on the scoreboard.

Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in the loss.

“Huge game, obviously, two top teams in the West, [points] percentage-wise, going at it, and to kind of lay an egg like that is unacceptable,” said Appleton. “We will go home and look in the mirror, try and turn the page. But we’re a lot better hockey club than we showed tonight.”