Finland sits Saros after giving up 6 in loss to U.S.
MONTREAL — Kevin Lankinen will start in net for Finland against Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off on Saturday after Juuse Saros allowed six goals on 32 shots in a 6-1 loss to the United States in each team’s tournament opener, coach Antti Pennanen said.
“We have three good goalies,” Pennanen said after practice Friday. “It’s a good situation for us. Juuse, I think he was really good the first 40 minutes, but 6-1, so we need to do something. And Kevin, he has played good games lately, so that was behind that decision.”
Saros’ struggles stretched into the 4 Nations from his rough half-season-plus in the NHL with the Nashville Predators. The 29-year-old has lost 29 of his 41 starts, ranks 38th among goalies in goals-against average with a 2.95 and is 33rd in save percentage with an .899.
Asked how he would evaluate his performance against the U.S., Saros said: “Obviously you always want to help your team even more on games like that.”
Saros’ new, eight-year, $61.92 million contract does not even kick in until next season.
Lankinen is 19-8-7 for the Vancouver Canucks with a 2.53 GAA and a .905 save percentage, making just above the league minimum at $875,000. A late bloomer who was never drafted, he grinded through minor leagues in Finland and North America before breaking through.
“I feel like there’s still more — a lot more — to accomplish, so many more levels to step up to, and I feel like every single season so far has been good progress,” Lankinen said. “Some of the pieces are coming together, but at the same time I recognize there is so much more to achieve.”
Pennanen hinted at making other lineup changes after scratching Kaapo Kakko and Juuso Valimaki on Thursday night but would not reveal much. Valimaki said he was not playing.
“Could be, but tomorrow you will know about those,” Pennanen said. “Again, 6-1, I think you need to do something but I know more exactly tomorrow, and those changes are public tomorrow.”
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Jake Trotter
A UAB football player stabbed two of his teammates Saturday morning at the football facility ahead of the Blazers’ home game against USF, a university spokesperson told ESPN.
The suspect has been arrested, and both injured players are in stable condition after being taken to UAB hospital. The school has not released the names of any of the players involved.
UAB’s game against USF began as scheduled at 3 p.m. ET.
A UAB official said an investigation is ongoing.
“UAB’s top priority remains the safety and well-being of all of our students,” the school said in a statement.
Ohio State wide receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith are not expected to play against Rutgers on Saturday due to lower-body injuries, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Tate will miss his third straight game. Smith played in last week’s win over UCLA but missed the second half after being seen limping before halftime. Both are considered day-to-day, sources said, ahead of a potential return next week against rival Michigan.
On Tuesday, coach Ryan Day would not rule out either wide receiver but also did not want to go into specifics on their availability.
“Our policy is we don’t discuss specifics on injuries, and once you start going down a little bit here, a little bit there, you can create a problem,” Day said. “So for a number of reasons, we don’t discuss those things.”
Smith leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the nation with 10 touchdown catches while ranking third in the conference in receiving yards per game (90.2) and second in catches per game (6.9). Tate is fifth in the Big Ten with 88.9 receiving yards per game.
Brandon Inniss started in place of Tate against UCLA and led No. 1 Ohio State with six catches for 30 yards during a 48-10 win.
The 5-5 Scarlet Knights are looking to beat Ohio State for the first time in their 11th try since joining the Big Ten in 2014.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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