Former Blackhawk Kevin Lankinen makes save of the year candidate in overtime win against Buffalo
Kevin Lankinen, a former Chicago Blackhawks goalie, made an incredible save today against the Buffalo Sabres.
The puck went behind the net and was then centred to Tage Thompson. Lankinen was left out to dry, and Thompson strolled into the slot. He faked the wrist shot, then danced in further and tried to tuck it in on the backhand. Kevin sprawled out as far as he possibly could, and stopped him with the pad, making a possible save of the year candidate save.
After that save, the Canucks went on to win the game.
Following the playoffs last year and the unknown of Thatcher Demko's health, the Vancouver Canucks needed a goalie.
Vancouver turned to Kevin Lankinen in September and signed him to a one-year deal worth $875,000.
Lankinen is 29 years old and has five NHL seasons under his belt.
In his first NHL season with the Blackhawks, he backed up Corey Crawford and went 17-14 with a 3.01 GAA and a .909 SV% through 37 games.
His second season wasn't so good, as he tallied a 3.50 GAA and a .891 SV%, which led to Kyle Davidson letting him test free agency and he ended up signing with the Nashville Predators for two years.
Ever since he signed with Nashville, he's been on the rise, as he hasn't had a season over a 3.00 GAA and has been over .900 SV%. And it makes sense, as those teams have had better defensive cores.
Now, he's with Vancouver. This year, he has a 2.57 GAA and a .909 SV% through 16 games and has really become a valuable asset and has stepped up for the Canucks when they needed him.
That save of the year candidate is only one instance of the season he's having, and it's nice to see him finally break through.
