Lankinen, 27 (4/28/95), stopped 30 of 31 shots in Thursday's 2-1 win at Florida to improve his record to 7-5-1 in 14 appearances this season, his first with Nashville. Among NHL goalies who have played in at least 14 games in 2022-23, he is tied for fifth in save percentage (.922) and 16th in goals-against average (2.58). The 6-foot-2, 185-pound goaltender has won four of his last five starts (4-1-0) and has made at least 30 saves on nine occasions this season. On Dec. 2 at the NY Islanders, Lankinen made a career-high 48 saves in Nashville's 4-1 victory; it was tied for the sixth-most saves in a game in Predators history.
Undrafted, Lankinen made his NHL debut with Chicago in 2020-21 and went on to play in 69 games for the Blackhawks across two seasons, going 25-29-11 with a .901 save percentage and 3.23 goals-against average. During his rookie campaign, he posted a .909 save percentage and ranked among the league's leaders in saves with 1,095 (third); shots against with 1,204 (third); and games played with 37 (seventh), helping him finish 13th in Calder Trophy voting. Lankinen originally signed with the Blackhawks in May 2018 out of Finland and made his North American debut in 2018-19 with Rockford (AHL) and Indy (ECHL). One season later, he was named to the AHL All-Star Classic and finished the campaign with a .909 save percentage in 21 appearances. Lankinen played four full professional seasons in Finland's Liiga from 2014-18, finishing second in the league's postseason in 2015-16 and coming in third in 2016-17 with HIFK. Internationally, the Helsinki, Finland, native represented his country in the 2019 World Championship, where he led his team to the gold medal by posting a 7-1 record and .942 save percentage. His 1.50 goals-against average was the best among all goaltenders during the tournament.
