Saros' Timely Turnaround Comes at Perfect Time With Update on Demko's Injury Timeline

Juuse Saros played lights out for the Nashville Predators in a game that he absolutely needed to be in order to help swing the series.

The Predators were able to even the first round series on the road with a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks after Saros made 17 of 18 saves for a .944 SV% and allowed just one goal against on 3.34 expected goals. The Canucks had 84 shot attempts in Game 2.

While Saros stepped up to the plate and came in clutch for Nashville, the goaltending matchup played out the way it was expected to. After Thatcher Demko was ruled out for the second game and potentially the series, Casey DeSmith was called upon. It's not like DeSmith hasn't been solid this season as a backup, but he does have a .895 SV% (exaggerated by a couple really bad starts).

After Game 2, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet provided an update on Tyler Myers and Demko. While Myers was just sick, Demko is considered week-to-week. This means that DeSmith will likely finish the series for the Predators, but Nashville has to at least even up the chances. If the team can do that for the remainder of the series, it may be over pretty quick as they head back home for two games.

For the most part, the Canucks controlled the play and got more high danger chances that should've resulted in more than one goal. With only 15 shots on goal for the Predators, they scored three times, showing the difference between Saros and DeSmith. The Predators also only had 36 shot attempts in Game 2.

Nashville also only had 2.09 expected goals and the Canucks' chances were much greater in the final frame. Saros' performance should give the Predators a lot of confidence heading back home for the third and fourth games of the series.

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