Vancouver Canucks Goaltender Kevin Lankinen Enters Elite Company in NHL History & Nobody is Talking About It
Vancouver Canucks netminder Kevin Lankinen has entered some pretty elite company in National Hockey League history during Tuesday's win over Boston.
With the Vancouver Canucks facing a back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday, Rick Tocchet decided to turn to Finnish netminder Kevin Lankinen for their game against the Boston Bruins.
It turned out to be the right decision by Rick Tocchet as Kevin Lankinen turned aside all 32 saves he faced for his second shutout and tenth win of the 2024-25 campaign.
Vancouver's Kevin Lankinen enters elite company in NHL history
With the win on Tuesday night against Boston, Kevin Lankinen became only the fifth goaltender in National Hockey League history to start a season with eight wins on the road (8-0-0) according to Sportsnet Stats.
The Helsinki, Finland native also became the first Vancouver Canucks goaltender to record a shutout in Boston since Corey Hirsch on Jan. 15, 1996.
Through 15 games this season, Kevin Lankinen is now up to 10-3-2 on the season, along with a 2.52 goals against average, a .909 save percentage and two shutouts.
It's hard to envision where the Vancouver Canucks would be without Kevin Lankinen this season and it took a little while before they even signed him during training camp as there were some issues in agreeing on salary.
With how Kevin Lankinen has been playing this season, he's also putting himself in a good spot to be in contention for Finland's roster at the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be officially announced on Wednesday, December 4th.
At some point soon, Lankinen will be relegated to the backup role, with Thatcher Demko's return to the crease expected in the near future, but with how he's played so far, he's proved to Rick Tocchet and the coaching staff that he'll show up when called upon.
Lankinen's next start with the Vancouver Canucks will likely come on Friday afternoon against the Buffalo Sabres in their fourth-game of a six-game road trip.
