The brightest storyline to start the season for the Tampa Bay Lightning:
Goaltender Jonas Johansson has answered the call.
That’s saying something, considering the call consisted of largely bad news, in that Tampa Bay’s Vezina-winning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy would be out eight weeks after back surgery. Not only has Johansson held down the net in Vasilevskiy’s absence, but he’s proven himself a clutch addition on nights when Vasy will need a bit of rest on a back-to-back, which he undoubtedly will.
In Game One, Johansson stopped 21 out of 23 shots at even strength and 6 of 7 shots on the power play in route to a 5-3 Bolts win with the spotlight on his back.
When the defense has managed to rally around Johansson this season, the goalkeeper has answered, including two straight shutouts—32 saves against the Hurricanes and 23 saves against the Sharks—earning himself the NHL’s Second Star of the Week at the end of October. He also became the seventh different goaltender in Tampa Bay history to record consecutive shutouts.
Johansson currently leads the NHL in both saves and shutouts.
