Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen hopped into the Team Finland line-up on Saturday in Montreal and beat Team Sweden in overtime 4-3 at the Four Nations Face-Off.
The Vancouver stopper took over for Juuse Saros of the Predators, who Lankinen used to back-up in Nashville prior to joining the Canucks. Saros gave up six goals in the 6-1 loss to Team USA on Thursday.
In the end Lankinen made 21 saves against Sweden, including two biggies in overtime. The first was a quick left pad save against Mika Zibanejad in the first ten seconds, the latter one a sliding smother that almost sneaked through against an onrushing Adrian Kempe. Not long after that save, Mikael Granlund won the game for Finland, holding on to the puck and firing home a shot during a 3-on-1 rush.
Lankinen will likely get the start against the Canadians in Boston on Monday for Finland’s round robin finale.
The 29-year-old netminder from Helsinki has a 19-8-and-7 record for the Canucks this season after being thrust into the top role following injuries to cohort Thatcher Demko.
Lankinen has a 2.53 goals against average and a .905 save percentage this NHL season.
