Kaapo Kahkonen News

Kahkonen allowed two goals on 33 shots in the Wild's shootout loss to the Ducks on Tuesday. Kahkonen has been simply spectacular since coming up from the AHL, going 2-0-1 with a 1.95 GAA and .947 SV% in his first three career starts. It's never easy to face Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but you can do worse than Kahkonen on Thursday night.

Kahkonen allowed two goals on 46 shots in the Wild's win in Florida last Tuesday. It was a terrific performance from the rookie, who has started his NHL career at 2-0 while stopping 76 of the 80 shots (.950 SV%) that he has faced so far. Tonight he faces a struggling Anaheim team that has lost 12 of their last 15 (3-8-4) games while scoring 2.53 goals per game.

Kahkonen stopped 32 of 34 shots in the Wild's win in New Jersey in his NHL debut last Tuesday. The 23-year-old was 7-2-1 with a 2.47 GAA and .909 SV% when he was called-up, so he should continue to be a decent option while Devan Dubnyk is out. With that said, the Panthers have won four of their last five home games while scoring 3.80 goals per game, so it's not a great matchup for career start No.2.

Devan Dubnyk missed Wednesday's practice for personal reasons, so Kahkonen comes up and will likely serve as Alex Stalock's backup on Thursday.

Not to be confused with this summer’s No.2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko, Kahkonen was a fourth-round pick in 2014. The 23-year-old netminder has gone 4-0-0 with a 2.95 GAA and .886 SV% in four AHL games this season. He is expected to serve as Alex Stalock’s backup on Thursday because Devan Dubnyk was banged up in Tuesday’s win.

Kahkonen has been impressive with Iowa this season, going 4-1-1 with a 0.98 GAA and .966 SV% in six games. Kahkonen is expected to backup Alex Stalock on Friday because Devan Dubnyk is dealing with an illness.