For at least one game, the Vancouver Canucks will have two true representatives at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in Montreal, Quebec.
Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen will be replacing his old Nashville Predators teammate, Juuse Saros, as Finland's starter against Sweden Saturday, Finland head coach Antti Pennanen announced Friday.
Lankinen, 29, relieves Saros after a disastrous outing that saw the latter allow six unanswered goals in Finland's 6-1 loss to Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, and the United States Thursday night. The 5-foot-11 Saros notably struggled to control pucks in tight, deflections, and rebounds in the blowout loss.
On the other hand, Lankinen has enjoyed a career year for the Canucks, posting a personal-best 19 wins, a 2.53 GAA, and four shutouts. Indeed, Lankinen's .905 save percentage is not the greatest you will find at the international level or the NHL level, but those numbers are partially skewed by the Canucks' struggles with injuries and with their actual performance on the ice.
Overall, Lankinen finds himself with a 19-8-7 record, a 2.53 GAA, a .905 save percentage, and four shutouts in 32 starts and 34 appearances for the Canucks this season.
Surprisingly, Saros is 11-23-6 this season with a 2.95 GAA and a .899 save percentage and four shutouts - not too far from Lankinen, but far enough. Between his Feb. 7 outing against Chicago and Thursday's meeting with the U.S., Saros has allowed 12 goals in his last two starts. Not good.
As such, Lankinen will take over as the starter for Finland. Lankinen last starred internationally for Finland in the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship in Slovakia, guiding the Suomi to a gold medal with 43 saves in a 3-1 victory over Canada in the Final.
Notable NHLers who dressed for Canada in that game include Matt Murray, Carter Hart, Darnell Nurse, Damon Severson, Jonathan Marchessault, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mark Stone, Sean Couturier, Thomas Chabot, Shea Theodore, Sam Reinhart, Anthony Cirelli, Adam Henrique, and Dylan Strome.
In eight games, Lankinen was 7-1-0 for Finland with a 1.50 GAA, a .942 save percentage, and two shutouts.