Manny Malhotra didn't name names, but the Canucks coach appears to have sent a clear message to Kevin Lankinen.
Vancouver sits at 3-12-1 and is 1-8-1 over its last 10. Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs was the latest bad night, and the Canucks get Anaheim tonight with a lot of questions still hanging over the crease.
Malhotra said the team needs guys who are competitive and can help it win hockey games. He pointed at nobody, which is exactly why it landed the way it did.
It felt like a shot at Lankinen. Maybe it wasn't, but a coach rarely leaves that much room for interpretation by accident.
And you know what a coach is thinking by how he uses his players. Right now, Leevi Merilainen has the net for four straight starts, and he has taken seven of the last nine.
| Date | Opp. | Result | In net | SV | SH | SV% |
| Oct 31 | vs TOR | L 2-4 | Merilainen | 24 | 27 | .889 |
| Oct 29 | at SJ | L 2-3 | Merilainen | 21 | 24 | .875 |
| Oct 27 | at ANA | W 6-5 OT | Merilainen | 18 | 23 | .783 |
| Oct 25 | vs MIN | L 2-4 | Merilainen | 30 | 34 | .882 |
| Oct 22 | vs DET | L 2-5 | Lankinen | 26 | 31 | .839 |
| Oct 20 | vs CAR | L 3-6 | Merilainen | 38 | 43 | .884 |
| Oct 17 | at TB | L 2-4 | Lankinen | 31 | 35 | .886 |
| Oct 15 | at FLA | L 2-3 OT | Merilainen | 36 | 39 | .923 |
| Oct 13 | at NYI | L 2-3 | Merilainen | 35 | 38 | .921 |
| Oct 11 | at NYR | L 2-6 | Lankinen | 19 | 25 | .760 |
That is a pretty loud answer to a question Malhotra never directly addressed.
Is Merilainen really the answer in the Canucks crease?
Two things can be true here. Malhotra may be done with Lankinen, and Merilainen still doesn't give this team a good chance to win on a lot of nights.
That is the uncomfortable part of a goalie change on a team like this. Vancouver has allowed 72 goals in 16 games against 47 scored, a goal differential of -25, and no netminder erases that on his own.
The Canucks are also 1-6-0 at home, so the tough nights aren't limited to the road. Switching goalies feels like a move, but it doesn't touch the problems in front of them.
| Goalie | GP | W | L | OL | SV | SH | SV% | GAA |
| Leevi Merilainen | 11 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 280 | 312 | .897 | 3.31 |
| Kevin Lankinen | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 159 | 197 | .807 | 6.17 |
Lankinen is 31 and has 218 career games, so he isn't a stranger to the job. Merilainen is 24 with 47 career games, and he is now the one the coach trusts in the biggest moments.
My view: pushing a veteran out of the net while the team ranks this low defensively is a bad bet. It changes the story around the club without changing the results.
Tonight's start against the Ducks will show whether Malhotra sticks with the same plan or lets the message sit in the locker room a little longer.
Is Leevi Merilainen the right goalie for the Canucks over Kevin Lankinen?
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