CHICAGO – Kevin Lankinen entered September without a contract, but the unrestricted free agent wasn’t sweating.

“I knew there were opportunities and I just kept the cards to myself and saw what would be best at the end of the day,” the Vancouver Canucks goaltender said. “So I knew there were opportunities and I just had to stay patient and calm and trust the process and eventually I thought I found the right person.”

Has he ever done it.

With starting goalie Thatcher Demko out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, the Canucks signed Lankinen to a one-year contract worth $875,000 on September 21. He’s been great for them so far, going 3-0-1 with a 1.70 GAA. against average, .941 save percentage and one shutout in four starts.

Lankinen is expected to do so again when the Canucks face the Pittsburgh Penguins at Rogers Arena on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, SN-PIT).

Demko went 35-14-2 with a 2.45 GAA, .918 save percentage and five shutouts in 51 starts last season and was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the team’s top goaltender. League goal as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Lankinen is 48-43-13 with a 3.02 GAA, .906 save percentage and four shutouts in 116 career games (105 starts) with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and Canucks.

“I like that he’s a pretty unflappable guy, but I really like his puck skills,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “I mean, it’s an underrated thing, but it really helps our defensive structure, on breakouts.

“In the past, teams would often shoot the puck at us. Now I find that in the last two games, “Lanks” was in front of the net, they don’t score as much because they know he’s going to stop the puck. This is a bonus for us.