Tampa Bay Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy Has Stood Strong Despite Loss

Despite losing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has stood strong in net.

The Tampa Bay Lightning may have come up short in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but it certainly was not for a lack of effort by Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. If anything, he is the one who consistently stood strong and really came up big when his team needed him.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had a rocky start to the 2015-16 season. Just before the preseason started, Andrei Vasilevskiy was diagnosed with a blood clot near his collarbone, the same injury currently plaguing Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, which required him to have surgery and miss the whole of the preseason and the first full month of the regular season.

Vasilevskiy didn’t see near as many starts this season as Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop, but in order to keep away the rust, the 21-year-old Russian netminder was sent down to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, in order for him to get some playing time.

In the 24 games he was able to play in with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season, he maintained a record of 11-10-0 with a Goals Against Average of 2.76 and a Save Percentage of .910. These may not look like spectacular numbers. Being honest, they really aren’t; however, there were a number of games where the Lightning came up short and the onus of the loss did not fall on the goaltender.

This brings us to the postseason. Vasilevskiy has only taken the ice for three games thus far in the postseason. The second of those games came after the entire Tampa Bay Lightning fan base ceased to breathe for a few minutes when Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop was injured in the latter moments of the first period of Game 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

In relief of Ben Bishop, Vasilevskiy only allowed one goal to get past him and into the back of the net. This was the power play goal scored by Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist in the final minute of the second period. Andrei Vasilevskiy was able to stop 25 of the 26 shots brought against him, giving Vasilevskiy a Save Percentage of .962.

Now, we find ourselves on Monday night when the Lightning would once again make their way into the Consol Energy Center in order to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final. As expected, Ben Bishop would sit this game out while he allowed his injury to heal a little bit more. This would give Vasilevskiy the start.

After a pretty intense first period, which saw the Lightning and the Penguins score two goals apiece, the Tampa Bay Lightning seemed to fall flat, allowing the Penguins to walk right into the offensive zone unopposed and failed to capitalize on a number of good scoring chances.

The Lightning would be able to push the Penguins into overtime. Unfortunately, a defensive miscue allowed Penguins captain Sidney Crosby to score his first career postseason overtime goal and split the series down the middle. It was quite clear when the goal horn sounded that Vasilevskiy wasn’t pleased and he quickly made his way off the ice and down the tunnel to the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room.

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Being completely honest, we can’t blame Vasy for being upset. For a good portion of the game, he had next to no help in front of the net. This was noticeably strange given the way the Tampa Bay Lightning defense has improved over the course of the season.

While the Tampa Bay Lightning only brought a total of 21 shots against Penguins goaltender Matt Murray over the course of the game, the Penguins bombarded Andrei Vasilevskiy with 41 shots on goal, of which he was able to turn away 38 of those shots.

Here is a look at one of the amazing saves Vasilevskiy made against the Penguins on Monday night. It involved the young Russian netminder sliding clear across the crease in order to rob Sidney Crosby on a backhander that went right into the glove of Vasilevskiy.

Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 38 save night gave him a Save Percentage of .927. Adding these numbers into his postseason totals, Vasilevskiy now has a Goals Allowed Average of 1.74 and a Save Percentage of .947. These numbers put him in league with goaltenders like Washington Capitals netminder Braden Holtby.

Unsurprisingly, it is more than just Tampa Bay Lightning fans who are showering Vasilevskiy with praise. Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times had an opportunity to speak with Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper after the game. Cooper had nothing but good things to say about his 1A plus goaltender.

"“You never want to lose your No 1 guy in Bish. But we’ve got 1A+ behind him. He was outstanding tonight.” Cooper said via Smith. “He was probably the reason the game went into overtime in the first place.” also via Joe Smith."

Coach Cooper wasn’t the only one showering praise on the young Russian netminder. Recently returned Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman has nothing put positive things to say about his teammate.

"“He was tremendous. He played like he’s done nothing else but play in playoff games. It was fun to see.” Stralman told Joe Smith."

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a long road ahead of them. The last time these two teams met in the postseason it took all seven games to decide a victor. Given the way this series has started out, there is a good chance the Lightning will be faced with the same challenge. The good news is, the next two games will be played right here in the Bolts Nation.

Ben Bishop is currently listed as day-to-day. There is a chance he may be ready to go when the Lightning take the ice for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. On the bright side, if Bishop isn’t quite ready to go, at least Lightning fans know they have someone like Andrei Vasilevsky in net who can stand up to players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Next: Lightning Look To Regain Momentum In Game 3

As we mentioned before, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be back in action on Wednesday night at the Amalie Arena in Tampa. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8:00 p.m. If you can’t make it to the game, you can always catch the live broadcast of the encounter on the NBC Sports Network. Should you desire to listen to Dave Mishkin make the call instead, all you need to do is tune into 970WFLA.