Vasilevskiy in fine form after tough start to playoffs for Lightning
Goalie big reason Tampa Bay can extend series lead in Game 3 against Florida
If Vasilevskiy looked human at the start of the playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning goalie has been locked in his past three games, allowing one goal in each. That includes victories in the first two games against Florida in the Eastern Conference Second Round, which shifts to Tampa Bay for Game 3 of the best-of-7 series Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).
"In my mind, he's the best player in the League," Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said. "He always plays the same way, always does everything right. Sometimes [pucks] go in, but in the big games you see why he's the best goalie in the League."
Nicknamed "The Big Cat" because of his size (6-foot-3, 225-pounds) and feline-like reflexes, Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy, voted as the most valuable player in the playoffs, last season, when he was 16-7 with a 1.90 goals-against average, .937 save percentage and five shutouts, leading Tampa Bay to its second straight Stanley Cup championship. The 27-year-old has returned to that form the past three games, stopping 98 of 101 shots.
Vasilevskiy made 30 saves in a 2-1 victory in Game 7 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs, 33 saves in a 4-1 win in Game 1 against Florida on Tuesday, and 35 more in a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Thursday.
"'Vasy' is always there and he's our best player in the playoffs, regular season," Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov said. "He brings 100 percent effort every single game and everybody's just trying to take his energy and bring it to your game."
So it was surprising when Vasilevskiy gave up at least three goals in each of the first six games against Toronto. Although Vasilevskiy rebounded with a win after each loss in that series, extending his run to 17-0 following losses since the start of the 2020 playoffs, his 3.37 GAA and .885 save percentage heading into Game 7 against Toronto were well below his usual standards.
"Same as probably the whole team," Vasilevskiy said of his play to that point. "I thought I played all right."
But "all right" usually isn't good enough for Vasilevskiy.
"We're with Vasy all the time and he's as competitive a person as I've ever met in terms of really taking it personal when he gives up goals, which is obviously great," Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said. "You want a guy that is going to battle and wants to be perfect. He wants perfection."
The Lightning have helped Vasilevskiy get back to that level by upping their commitment to team defense and shot blocking. Tampa Bay blocked 26 shots in Game 7 against Toronto, 16 in Game 1 against Florida, and 24 in Game 2, including 15 in the third period.
The combination of defense with Vasilevskiy elevating his play has been formidable in slowing a high-powered Panthers offense that led the NHL in scoring (4.11 goals per game) during the regular season.
"I think it's been the fact that he's back to making all the saves you expect him to make," ESPN analyst and former NHL goalie Kevin Weekes said. "And they are back to playing the way they need to play when they can't just out-skill a team and put up five or six (goals). To their credit, they made their adjustment."
The challenge for the Panthers is to find a way to score more against that suffocating Lightning defense and Vasilevskiy.
"He's just a monster in the net. He's so big," Panthers defenseman Ben Chiarot said. "He takes up so much of the net that when you're shooting on him it doesn't really look like there's any holes."
The Panthers have generated some quality chances, but Vasilevskiy has stymied them with timely stops at key moments. In Game 1, after Pierre-Edouard Bellmare's goal gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead 3:35 into the third period, Vasilevskiy kicked out his right pad to stop Claude Giroux' shot on the rush with 5:20 remaining to preserve the one-goal advantage.
In Game 2, after Eetu Luostarinen's shot snuck through Vasilevskiy for the tying goal with 1:53 remaining the second period, he shook that off to make three saves during a Florida power play in the final minute of the period. The best was a left pad stop on Anthony Duclair's one-timer from the right circle with nine seconds remaining.
"It's the saves you make at the biggest times and 'Vas' seems to do that," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I know that in the Toronto series he gave up more than he wants at times but look at the saves he makes at the times we need them. To me, that's what great goaltenders do."
With each victory, the Lightning's confidence is growing that they can achieve their quest to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup championship. Having Vasilevskiy back at the top of his game is a big reason for that belief.
"They'll be the first ones to tell you they won because of him and their team game around him," Weekes said. "He can steal games on his own, but when he's not letting in pucks that you don't expect him to let in, he's making all the saves you expect him to make and then he's making some of the crazy saves that you wouldn't, but they expect him to make, then that's a crazy recipe.
"That's what makes him the best in the League."
