No wins through three games is clearly not how the Vancouver Canucks and their fans anticipated this season beginning. It's of small consolation, but at least they have managed to obtain two 'loser' points, to keep them out of the NHL standings basement.
Certainly, three consecutive losses heading into a contest versus the reigning Stanley Cup champions, is not ideal preparation. Again on the consolation front, the Canucks at least don't have to face Matthew Tkachuk or Aleksander Barkov, with both currently sidelined for the Panthers.
While it's goals which win games, not allowing many/any is also key to this outcome. Along these lines, the Canucks need to do (much) better than the 13 they've allowed thus far, which has only further highlighted the massive gap left from the absence of Thatcher Demko.
Who gets the nod in net against the Panthers?
This leads to the question of who will be between the pipes on Thursday evening, for the matchup with the Panthers in Florida.? Prior to the regular season, the smart money would have been on Artūrs Šilovs, due to his play in the playoffs last season combined with how he performed during training camp and preseason.
However, Šilovs' nightmare outing in the home opener against the Calgary Flames caused some concern. And even though he played better on Tuesday evening in Tampa Bay versus the Lightning, the pendulum now seems to have swung in favour of Kevin Lankinen.
Actually, as we previously wrote, the fact that Šilovs even got the start in the Canucks' first game of their four-game road trip, seemed to allude to Lankinen likely facing the Panthers. Head coach Rick Tocche had said he wanted to keep both goalies involved early on in the season, including during this road trip.
Further, even sans Tkachuk and Barkov, the Panthers were seen as the bigger test compared to the Lightning (and understandably so). Thus, it stood to reason Tocchet would start whichever goaltender gave him more confidence -- at this stage -- for the game against a team with two consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
Lankinen looked the business in his first start for the Canucks
In this respect, Lankinen provided said confidence with how he performed in his first regular season start for the Canucks, against the Philadelphia Flyers. On a purely statistics-driven level, he was excellent in stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faced, for a save percentage of .935.
However, the eye test also served Lankinen well, as he made a couple of phenomenal saves in the opening period, including one on a Flyers power play. Even when he did finally allow a goal, there was no blame attached to him.
The Flyers tied the game at 2-2 early in the third period and then lay seige on the Canucks goal. However, despite dominating the final 25 minutes of the contest -- including having a 15-9 advantage in shots on goal -- the Flyers did not get past Lankinen again until the subsequent shootout.
All in all, the Tocchet and the Canucks need to find any edge, in order to turn around results and get their first win of the 2024-25 campaign. And this should include Lankinen getting the nod between the pipes at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday evening, to offer the advantage which comes with his calm veteran leadership.