Backup goalie leads Canucks to win, 2-1 series lead over Predators

Casey DeSmith.

Casey DeSmith has been a backup goaltender for the Pittsburgh Penguins for most of his career, but he took center stage on Friday night.

DeSmith made 30 saves for his first career playoff win as the Vancouver Canucks held off the Nashville Predators 2-1 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Game 4 is Sunday in Nashville at 5 p.m. ET.

DeSmith has been forced into action because of a lower-body injury to No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko, who was only able to play in the series opener. Demko may miss the remainder of the series.

It was only DeSmith’s third career playoff game.

“I can’t say enough about the guys. All the kills we had ….. The guys really earned that one. This is just a hard place to play,” DeSmith said on TBS after the game. ” … Just to hang on at the end and hold on to that one-goal lead. That’s hard to do.”

The Canucks blocked 29 shots.

J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser had power-play goals for Vancouver. Miller added an assist and defenseman Quinn Hughes had two assists.

Luke Evangelista scored with 3:12 left to make it a one-goal game.

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