The NHL column: Nashville’s Finnish goaltending duo is the league’s best tandem – can Saros and Lankinen drag the Predators to the playoffs?

Favorite in replay. When the year starts, Nashville seems to be out of the playoff picture. Then Juuse Saros puts in the savior gear. This season, the NHL’s best goaltending tandem is completed by Kevin Lankinen.

Goaltending talk also dominates the NHL podcast this week. Who has made the best saves in the NHL over the past five years? Who is the best this year? How does it look on the Finnish goalkeeping front?

Just under a month before the concept of the gold in the Globe was etched into the Finnish public soul, two baby boys were born nine days apart, in Forssa and Helsinki. Both boys got unusual first names – quite justifiably so, one might think.

Because they did not become ordinary “street trampers”.

As all hockey fans in Finland know, Juuse Saros (born April 19, 1995) and Kevin Lankinen (born April 28, 1995) are world champions and NHL goaltenders. Today, together in Nashville, they form the statistically best goalie duo in the world’s best hockey league.

If the Predators are to have a chance to climb into the playoffs, Saros and Lankinen must continue to be the NHL’s best tandem until the regular season is over. Mediocre team goalkeepers must stand on their heads for the team to achieve success.

Mediocre team goalkeepers must stand on their heads for the team to achieve success

Lucky for the Predators that their Finnish goalkeepers have shown how to stand on their heads when the pressure is at its greatest for a Finnish goalkeeper: when two million hockey-crazy Lions fans expect World Cup gold.

Anyone who passes that test has enough ice in their bloodstream for everything that ice hockey can offer.

The ideal backup

As you know, this with a Finnish goalkeeping tandem is nothing new in Nashville. But where Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros were something of a father-son combination, the 27-year-olds are almost twins.

And if you ignore the clear ranking of the Predators, which gives Saros about two out of three starts, the guys have almost identical statistics.

Saros, who at the time of writing (January 26) has played 36 games, has a 92.0 save percentage and a 2.70 goals conceded average.

In his eleven games, Lankinen has hit the table with even stiffer statistics: 92.4 and 2.64. In fact, he is tied for third in the league in save percentage for goaltenders who have played at least ten games. Linus Ullmark and Connor Hellebuyck top.

And if you take a look at the in-depth statistics, you find Kevin Lankinen in second place for “saved dangerous shots” (high danger chances) with a percentage of 88.7.

Then it’s worth knowing that of the twelve teams that allowed more dangerous shots than the Predators, eight are counted out of the playoffs – and only one, Dallas, is in the dry.

That Lankinen does his job admirably is confirmed by the stat column that NHL analysts love: saves above league average (GSAA). He has saved seven more goals (6.94) than the NHL’s “average goalie”. Then remember that “Preds” usually win with the odd goal.

Lankinen gives the team the chance to win when needed and is proven not to tremble in tough situations. Not much more a team could want from their second pick.

The world’s calmest predator

Nashville’s biggest individual game-winner is still the league’s shortest starting goaltender. As usual – for the third straight season – Juuse Saros has bricked Nashville’s goal as the days grow longer and the pulse of the playoff race nears the ceiling.

Not that you see any signs of a high heart rate in Saros. Just the usual calm smirk.

The save percentage of 92.0 is ninth best in the league (minimum ten games). But if you check how it looks since Christmas, the customary winter form becomes really clear. Saros has saved 93.2 percent of 399 shots since Boxing Day. No one else has seen as many pucks.

Incidentally, this also applies to the entire season: 1204 shots are 35 more than what runner-up Connor Hellebuyck experienced. Consequently, Saros is also alone in having stopped more than 1,100 shots.

Just like Lankinen, Saros has also done excellently when looking at dangerous shots. The save percentage of 84.9 is admittedly only fifteenth best in the league. But, but: there is no one in front of him who has been tested with as many “high danger chances”: 337.

And to return to the gem of the in-depth stats: Juuse Saros has saved 18 goals (18.04) above the league average this season. With that, he is fifth behind Linus Ullmark (28.17), Hellebuyck (22.72), Jake Oettinger (19.74) and Ilja Sorokin (18.28).

Guess who with 10.70 GSAA is number one as of Boxing Day?

Some have already done it, but maybe you shouldn’t yet decide which goaltenders are Vezina candidates when the regular season ends in about two months.

Nashville needs “saved” points

As of this writing, the Predators have 35 games left to play and are currently three points out of the last wild card spot. Nashville has 52 points, Calgary 55, between them Minnesota is found with 54 points. Behind Nashville, St. Louis 49 points.

Last season, 97 points were required in the Western Conference to grab the last playoff spot (Nashville then) and it is likely that the requirement is about the same now. That means Nashville needs to collect at least 45 points out of a possible 70 for the rest of the season.

The scoring percentage then required by the Predators until the end of the series is 64.2. So far, the team has taken 55.3 percent of the possible points, that’s how tough it will be. In fact, currently only six of the Western Conference’s sixteen teams have a worse scoring percentage than Nashville.

At the same time, Winnipeg, for example, has a scoring percentage of 64.3 after just over half of the season. So it’s not impossible, and the Predators need exactly the same recipe as the Jets: dazzling goaltending.

Luckily, the Predators have the league’s safest goaltending tandem in addition to a big-playing Saros. Not a bad competitive advantage.

The league’s best tandem

The basic series leaves its mark. Fatigue and small blemishes also creep in without major damage. Every team must rest the starting goaltender at least every four games, more likely at least every third. So for about ten games, the second choice guards the cage – and many precious points.

Saros (92.0) and Lankinen (92.4) are the only duo where both goalkeepers saved at least 92 percent. The difference to the league’s second-best tandem – Colorado’s Aleksandar Georgijev (91.9) and Pavel Francouz (92.0) – is admittedly minimal, but often determines razor-thin margins.

Also, Colorado is not the interesting comparison object. The Avalanche just climbed into an outright playoff spot and the reigning champions are not letting it go.

Nashville will likely compete for a wild card spot with Calgary, Minnesota, either Edmonton or Los Angeles and maybe even half-assed St. Louis. The margins will be small – and the safety of the goalkeeper’s game is underlined as important. Crucial?

Easy to read how well Nashville’s Finnish tandem compares.

Most striking is the lead regarding goals saved above the average: 25 plus goals for the firm Saros & Lankinen. Of the wild card competitors, only Minnesota has its nose above the surface of the water – and that thanks to second choice Filip Gustavsson.

In the comparison between the guys who stand two or three games out of four, Saros is on a level all his own.

Now that the league is in a phase where teams are trying to find their playoff identity, every goal scored – and stopped – grows in value. Feels like it fits Predator’s last lock really well. Double birthday parties in the sign of the playoffs?

Thank you for reading.

Sources: naturalstattrick.com, hockey-reference.com, nhl.com, hockeydb.com