One of the best stories is how record-setting Lankinen turned a one-year, $875,000 roster insurance offer into opportunity to prove future worth
Kevin Lankinen was looking for work in September. He’ll be representing his country in February.
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Lankinen, 29, will vie for the net with former Nashville Predators teammate Jusse Saros and Ukko-Pekka Luukonen of the Buffalo Sabres. Maybe this shapes up as 2.0 version of what occurred with Canucks stopper Roberto Luongo in the 2011 Olympics.
Martin Brodeur started for Canada and struggled in the final preliminary game and Luongo got the net and kept it all the way to a gold-medal triumph. Then again, maybe Lankinen starts ahead of Saros. He has the best mark of the Finnish trio (12-3-3) and they have comparable goals-against average and save percentages.
Lankinen’s road run certainly cemented his roster status, just in case the Finnish selection committee needed a nudge. He started the season with a 10-0-0 mark to surpass Glenn Hall (1965-66) and Cam Talbot (2022-23). And amid injuries and Miller’s indefinite leave of absence, Lankinen has a leg up as the team’s most valuable player.
“He’s a road warrior — I think he likes his hotel points,” joked Tocchet. “He’s been like that all year. He lives for the moment.”
When David Pastrnak was sprung on a breakaway, and tried to go 5-hole with a backhand deke, Lankinen quickly closed the gap. He then contorted to kick out a pad into keep the rebound from coming back into the crease.
“That’s the part of goaltending that I always love, just scrambling and throwing technique and structure out the window,” surmised Lankinen. “It might have been my best (game) but make sure the next time I get the call top perform at the same level.”
Pettersson’s progression this season from struggling and subdued star to engaged and entertaining playmaker is another good story.
He had no goals in his first six games, and just four points (1-3) in his first 10, and something had to give. The body language had to change and so did the practice commitment.
Pettersson is also showing leadership. The record was great, but his critique Tuesday was even better.
“That’s pretty cool,” Pettersson said of the mark. “I’m very honoured by that, but it would have tasted better with a win. We did enough to win but a few mistakes. I missed a block and screened Lankinen. Small details to improve.”
Pettersson’s actual turnaround occurred weeks ago. When he started practising harder, it translated to his game presence and eight points (4-4) in six games before the latest sojourn out east was proof of the desire.
The early Hughes roster commitment by the U.S. team was a no-brainer. The Canucks captain and Norris Trophy winner continues to lead by example and take his total game to a higher level. His sixth goal of the season Tuesday showed patience and poise.
Hughes is second in scoring among all blueliners with 29 points (6-23) in 24 games and his recent run of 10 points in the last five games (2-8) has him in the conversation for another Norris Trophy.
What endears Hughes to his teammates is the manner in which he constantly speaks of the “we” and not “me”.
When he added another franchise record to his collection of achievements — three assists Sunday eclipsed the team record of 310 points for defencemen held by Alex Edler — he first referenced the team effort in a 5-4 overtime triumph.
“Our compete level and will to win is really high right now,” noted Hughes.
He eventually got around to talking of his latest achievement. After all, Edler set the assist mark in 925 games and Hughes needed just 388. That’s worth taking about.
“I was lucky to have Eddie for two years and he was a great teammate,” reasoned Hughes. “I’ve been able to play with good players.”
Miller, who went on an indefinite leave of absence on Nov. 19, is being looked upon by the U.S. team as a versatile addition, who can play centre or winger and contribute to the power play and penalty kill.
He had 16 points (6-10) in 17 games before leaving the team.