Demko's stellar play leads Canucks past Maple Leafs

J.T. Miller scored one goal and set up another in the first period, then the Vancouver Canucks relied on goaltender Thatcher Demko to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 Saturday night.

The Leafs outshot the Canucks 52- 24 but lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since October.

Nursing a one-goal lead in the third, Demko stopped William Nylander on a breakaway, then blocked an Ilya Mikheyev shot.

Miller has 19 points (8-11) in his last 17 games.

Auston Matthews and Ondrej Kase scored power-play goals for the Leafs (30-12-3) who lost 5-2 in Calgary Thursday night.

Goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 21 shots for Toronto.

The game pitted the Toronto power play, ranked first in the league, against a Canucks penalty kill rated the worst.

A load contingent of Toronto fans chatted "go Leafs go" during the game at Rogers Arena, which was only half full due to COVID-19 restrictions. Canuck fans responded with chants of "Leafs suck."

After looking average in the first period, the Leafs pressured the Canucks in the second, outshooting Vancouver 23-7.

It took Toronto just 25 seconds to capitalize after Bo Horvat was sent off for high-sticking. After Demko stopped a Nylander shot John Tavares passed the rebound to Matthews who scored his 15th goal in 18 games at 12:46.

The Leafs struck again less than three minutes later. With Canucks defenceman Luke Schenn off for tripping, Kase deflected a Jason Spezza shot past Demko.

The game was barely 90 seconds old when Miller scored on a play that left Mrazek seeing red. He stopped Horvat who was slicing in front of the net but the Canucks captain's stick looked to spin the Leafs goalie around. Miller put the rebound in an empty net.

Mrazek argued but Toronto didn't challenge the