The Vancouver Canucks will turn to goaltender Kevin Lankinen for a third straight game when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks tonight.

Lankinen’s Canucks career has gotten off to a phenomenal start, as the 29-year-old is responsible for both of the club’s wins early in the season. Through three starts, Lankinen has amassed a .953 save percentage to go along with a 2-0-1 record. He picked up a shutout in the Canucks’ win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, and that performance certainly tipped the scales in his favour to start Tuesday night’s game against the Blackhawks.

Lankinen is clearly the better of the Canucks’ two goaltenders right now, and they’re sticking with the hot hand. But is it the right call?

Arturs Silovs, the Canucks’ playoff hero just a handful of months ago, has gotten off to a rocky start to his 2024-25 season. There’s no denying that. At 23, Silovs had more NHL playoff games than regular season games under his belt heading into this season. To say he’s inexperienced at the NHL level is an understatement. And really, that’s something the Canucks need to keep front of mind.

Silovs’ .827 save percentage through two games isn’t good enough. Everyone knows that. But Tuesday vs. Chicago marked a solid chance for Silovs to bounce back and gain some confidence against a weaker Blackhawks team. That’s really the only argument for starting Silovs — that you don’t want a young player’s confidence to be tanked this early into the season.

Is Lankinen the better option tonight? Absolutely. He’s the hot hand, and he’s coming off a shutout. But when will the Canucks turn to Silovs yet? Assuming Lankinen gets the start vs. Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Canucks’ schedule begins to get busy to close out October and into early November. They play the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, then the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, November 2nd.

Which of those games will Silovs get? San Jose is obviously the weakest opponent, but you’d assume with just one day off in between each of their three games from Saturday through Wednesday, the Canucks would like Silovs to get either one of Carolina or New Jersey. Those two teams represent a tougher challenge — certainly a tougher one than the Blackhawks — and if Silovs doesn’t perform well in his next start, it’s going to make it that much harder for the Canucks to turn to him, and make it that much harder for Silovs to play at his best when he is eventually tabbed to start.

By starting Lankinen tonight, the Canucks give themselves the best chance at winning and finishing their road trip with a three game winning streak, but they also put themselves at risk of hurting the confidence of a young goaltender who they should hope can be a difference maker for them for a long time.

Is it the right call to go to Lankinen? Yes, probably. Would it also have been easy to construct an argument to play Silovs tonight instead? Yes, absolutely.

At the end of the day though, this is the NHL, and wins are king. And right now, there’s no denying that Kevin Lankinen gives the Canucks their best shot at winning games. Silovs will just need to wait his turn and try to make the most of it the next time he’s called upon.

Read our full game preview for tonight’s contest by clicking here!