Kevin Lankinen stole the show in his first career start with the Vancouver Canucks. The 29-year-old goaltender stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadephia Flyers. While the result wasn’t ideal, Lankinen showed why the Canucks were so keen on signing him this year.
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Against the Flyers, Lankinen saw a variety of shots, including nine that NHL EDGE classifies as high-danger. Of those nine high-danger shots, he stopped eight, which helped keep Vancouver in the game. In addition to the nine high-danger shots, he faced an additional four from right beside the net, with Philadephia crashing the net as much as possible throughout the night.
NHL EDGE
Overall, this was not an easy game for Lankinen. While the Canucks did not allow a large number of scoring chances, they did struggle to block shots and clear out pucks from near the crease. Luckily, Lankinen was on his game, leading Vancouver to pick up a point against the Flyers.
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The good news is there are more positives than negatives that can be drawn from Lankinen’s first start of the season. He looked positionally sound and was able to use his athleticism to stop chances from in tight. If Lankinen can string a few more performances like this together, he could earn the backup job once Thatcher Demko returns from injury.
