Thatcher Demko leaves unexpectedly during first period.

The Vancouver Canucks may have lost their star goaltender once again after only a few minutes of action on Saturday night.

During Saturday night's clash between the Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs, goaltender Thatcher Demko would surprise everyone when he appeared to pull himself out of the game very early on. Demko simply skated over to head coach Rick Tocchet during a television timeout and, following a brief exchange between coach and goalie, it would be at that point that Demko appeared to make the decision to pull himself from the game.

Demko had faced just 6 shots in the first period prior to leaving the game, and was having a solid performance having allowed no goals up to that point.

Here's a look at a replay of how it all went down:

During Saturday night's broadcast of the game, former National Hockey League goaltender Kelly Hrudey revealed his suspicion that Demko was feeling off very early on during warmups and he suspects he may have even previously warned the team about the possibility of him coming out.

"Demko most likely after warm up said to Lankinen 'Hey listen I'm feeling a little off, something is bugging me right now' so Lankinen I suspect has been preparing ever since the start of the game," said Hurdey.

Kevin Lankinen has been an unexpected but very pleasant surprise for the Canucks this season, with Lankinen already appearing in 33 games this season and recording a 2.57 goals against average and a .904 save percentage along the way. That being said losing your number one goaltender to a potential injury is never ideal.

Update: Canucks have officially confirmed that Demko will not return.