Predators vs. Canucks Tuesday NHL odds, props: Backup Nashville goaltender Kevin Lankinen gets first start of season
Nashville will turn to its backup goalie when it visits Vancouver on Tuesday.
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No goaltender in hockey has been busier than Nashville's Juuse Saros, who has started all eight games thus far and is a very solid 4-4-0 with a 2.49 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. The Finn was overdue for a night off and will get a breather Tuesday in Vancouver with backup Kevin Lankinen starting in his place. That has affected the game's odds with the Canucks moving from about -135 to -145 on the SportsLine consensus. FanDuel had a total of 5.5 but it's all the way up to 6.5, although all the other books tracked by SportsLine stayed at 6.
The 28-year-old Lankinen, also from Finland, saw action in 19 games last year with 18 starts and was 9-8-1 with a 2.75 GAA and .916 SV, also solid numbers. He relieved Saros on Oct. 17 this season against Edmonton, allowing two goals on 19 shots. Lankinen lost his lone career start vs. Vancouver in the 2021-22 season with Chicago, allowing three goals.
This starts a five-game trip for Nashville, which on Monday recalled defenseman Marc Del Gaizo from Milwaukee of the AHL and placed forward Cody Glass (lower body) on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 19. The Predators upset visiting Toronto 3-2 in overtime on Saturday, with former Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi scored the OT winner for his first goal of the season to become the 12th defenseman in NHL history to score at least eight career OT goals.
It was also Josi's 30th career game-winning goal, the eighth-most by a defenseman with a single franchise in NHL history. Josi has recorded points in six of his last 10 games (one goal, five assists) against Vancouver and is -115 for a point tonight.
Nashville center Ryan O'Reilly is set to play in his 1,000th career NHL game on Tuesday, becoming the fifth player to play his milestone in a Predators uniform and the first to do so since Mike Fisher in March 2016. The 32-year-old played his previous 999 career games with Colorado (427), St. Louis (327), Buffalo (224), Toronto (13) and Nashville (8). He will become the second player from his 2009 NHL Draft class to skate in 1,000 career NHL games; Toronto's John Tavares was the first.
Thacher Demko, the Canucks' top goalie, will start in net for Vancouver. He's coming off a shutout of the Blues on Saturday to improve to 3-2-0 with a 1.91 GAA and .936 SV. Elias Pettersson leads the team with 13 points this season and JT Miller has 12. Pettersson is the +135 favorite to be an anytime goal scorer for Tuesday's game.
The Canucks won in Nashville last Tuesday, 3-2, with Saros opposite Demko. There was just one penalty called through two and a half periods. The Canucks are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games against the Predators. Demko has a 2.67 GAA and .908 SV in six career games (3-2-1) against Nashville.
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