The NHL Just Issued A Major Announcement Regarding Vancouver Canucks Goalie Kevin Lankinen

Vancouver Canucks fans were in a bit of a panic mode last week after Thatcher Demko was forced to leave Thursday's game against the Seattle Kraken with an apparent injury after he collided with defenseman Noah Juulsen during the second period.

Demko was replaced by Kevin Lankinen, who held down the fort, despite allowing a pair of third period goals, helping the Canucks to a shootout win over their Pacific Northwest rivals.

Thankfully for the Vancouver Canucks, Thatcher Demko's injury isn't expected to be serious, with Rick Tocchet saying that he's dealing with back spasms.

With Thatcher Demko out, Patrik Allvin called up Latvian goaltender Arturs Silovs on an emergency basis to be the backup to Kevin Lankinen, who has been solid since joining the Vancouver Canucks during training camp on a one-year contract.

In a social media post on Tuesday afternoon, the National Hockey League announced that Kevin Lankinen of the Vancouver Canucks, along with Colorado's Mackenzie Blackwood, Toronto's Joseph Woll and Carolina's Pyotr Kochetkov, have been named the Pepsi Goaltenders of the Week for December 30th to January 5th.

During that period, Kevin Lankinen appeared in three games for the Vancouver Canucks where he had a 1.96 goals against average during starts against Calgary (Dec. 31st) and Nashville (Jan. 3rd), along with a 37-minute relief appearance against Seattle.

In 27 games for Vancouver this season, the Helsinki, Finland native has a 15-7-5 record along with a 2.63 goals against average, a .904 save percentage and three shutouts - which has him in a six-way tie for third in the NHL.

We'll have to wait and see at the morning skate tomorrow, but it's more likely than not that Kevin Lankinen will get the start for Wednesday's game against the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals, with puck drop set for just after 4:30 pm PT.