Kevin Lankinen's star begins to fade as Canucks' home inconsistency continues

We've written extensively about the Canucks' inconsistent play so far in 2024-25, but also their ability to still pick up points. However, this narrative does not extend to home ice specifically.

Consider that entering Sunday night's game, the Cancucks had a decidedly average 3-3-3 record at Rogers Arena this season. However, with the struggling Nashville Predators coming to town and having only won once on the road, the smart money was on Rick Tocchet's team to get the two points.

How wrong this line of thinking was. The Canucks came out flat, the Predators had one of their best performances of the season and when it was all said and done, the visitors left with a 5-3 win.

Not helping the Cancucks, is their continuing bad habit of falling behind early. When the Predators took the lead just over five minutes into Sunday's contest, it marked the 10th time in the past 11 games that Tocchet's team had allowed the first goal.

Lankinen not helping at the moment

In general, for as productive as the Canucks have been on the road with a 6-1-0 record, all that good work has been undone by their home struggles. And then there's the recent form of their (current) main option in goal, Kevin Lankinen.

Lankinen came flying out of the gates and quickly established himself as the number one between the pipes for the Canucks. He was also partly helped by the subpar form of Artūrs Šilovs, but for the most part won the starting gig and Tocchet's confidence on merit alone.

Lankinen equalled a franchise record, by claiming points in each of his first nine starts of the season. Along the way he produced a 7-0-2 record, .923 save percentage and 2.08 Goals Against Average.

A bad turn of events against the Oilers

However, the tide began to change just over a week ago, when Lankinen allowed a career-high seven goals in an embarrassing 7-3 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers. In fairness it wasn't all on him, as his teammates more than played their part in the defensive calamity.

Afterwards, Tocchet put it down as a one-off, with him insisting Lankinen was the least of the team's problems. And this seemed to bear out when the netminder responded in his next start against the Calgary Flames, only allowing one goal on 29 shots in a 3-1 victory.

Unfortunately for everyone concerned, Lankinen's following start on Thursday night saw him allow four goals on 31 shots, with a late empty-netter also contributing to a 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders. Then came Sunday night.

As already mentioned, the Predators entered the game with just one road win so far this season, and on a three-game losing streak. Surely this was a contest which would help Lankinen get back on track?

Interestingly, there was also the subplot of Lankinen facing his previous team and going up against the goalie who made him expendable in Nashville. Unfortunately for the Canucks' goalie, Juuse Saros subsequently got the upper hand.

Not that Saros was particularly outstanding himself, in allowing three goals on 27 shots (albeit including one of a deflected shot). However, Lankien had a terrible game in allowing four goals, despite facing a season-low 20 shots.

Lankinen takes the blame ... in a manner of speaking

Postgame, Lankinen essentially admitted he was the reason for the loss, despite not actually saying it out loud. Speaking to the media, he said:

"Yeah I thought we created (enough) opportunities and played well enough to win the game I think."

Lankinen was then asked if the Predators performed how he expected them to, after playing with them last season. With a wry smile, he said:

"I wasn't really expecting anything. I was just focused on my own game and that's what goalies do - make sure you're prepared, make sure you're dialled in and focused on every single puck. That was my game plan tonight."

Harsh or not, it's fair to ask how well-prepared and focused Lankinen was in the end, just because of how the game played out. This is not to say he's suddenly become a bad goalie, but there's no denying he's currently in a bit of a rut.

Where is the other version of Lankinen?

Lankinen undoubtedly helped the Canucks stay afloat early on in the season, keeping them in games and playing like the deal of the century. However, he's now 1-3-0 in his past four starts, in the process recording a .850 save percentage and 4.24 Goals Against Average.

Of course it would help if the players in front of Lankien were performing better, particularly on home ice. Speaking to the media about what's different at Rogers Arena, Tocchet said:

"We really pride ourselves (on our) play without the puck. It seems on the road we're a little bit better than at home. It seems there's too many goals at home. The penalty kill was one of them tonight, but we've got to make sure we protect the breakouts and protect the guts of the ice, things like that."

What makes all of this so concerting, is that the Canucks were excellent on home ice last season. In fact their home record of 23-14-4 was best out of all Pacific Division teams, and clearly key in them winning the division.

If the Canucks are to repeat as division champions in 2024-25, it involves getting their home form back on track as soon as possible. And key to this will be Lankinen rediscovering his early-season form, especially with Thatcher Demko's status remaining so unpredictable at this time.

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