Why Kevin Lankinen is proving he's the Nashville Predators' most important role player

Every good team needs role players, and the Nashville Predators have none better than goaltender Kevin Lankinen.

Sure, he's just a backup. And as long as he's playing behind Juuse Saros, that won't change.

But all season, Lankinen has served as co-pilot to Nashville's goalie tandem, allowing Saros much needed rest and always being there for tough assignments − especially on the road.

On Saturday at UBS Arena, Lankinen started his 14th road game out of 16 starts this season. In a 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders, Lankinen made 28 saves, his 11th game with at least 25 saves this season.

There wasn't much else Lankinen could do against New York. On Noah Dobson's goal - the only goal Lankinen allowed - he was screened in front perfectly by Casey Cizikas. At the other end of the ice, the Predators were stymied by Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov, who stopped all 40 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season.

But Lankinen did his job. He gave the Predators a chance to win, making a number of key saves during a tight contest.

As role players go, you can't ask for much better than that. If your elite stars aren't able to get it done, you can't blame the role player who stood on his head.

Now the Predators move on to New Jersey, where Saros is likely to start against the Devils on Sunday. If he does start, he will do so with two full days rest.

Which is, of course, one of Lankinen's other roles.

All season long, Lankinen has been anchoring the front half of Nashville's back to back contests. Saturday's loss to New York was Lankinen's sixth start coming on the front end of a back-to-back.

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Lankinen has won some huge games this season. On Feb. 20, he made 23 saves in a 5-3 win over Vegas, one of the victories that helped get their franchise record streak started. His 33-save performance in a 3-0 win at Florida gave him his first shutout with Nashville.

While Saros is Nashville's first option in goal for the foreseeable future − there is no goaltender controversy here, let's be clear about that − having Lankinen play a key role gives the Predators one of the best goaltending duos in the NHL.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kevin Lankinen is proving he's Nashville's most important role player