Vasilevskiy has Bolts on cusp of final
WASHINGTON— Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper didn’t blame Andrei Vasilevskiy for the Lightning digging a deep hole early in the Eastern Conference final. Two games and two losses brought plenty of criticism of the young Russian goalie. Cooper wasn’t thrilled about that.
“The questions were coming from the other side of the table, and I felt it was the questioning of Vasilevskiy,” he said. “We don’t. He’s been the guy for us.”
Vasilevskiy turned the series around for the Lightning, who now lead the Capitals 3-2 and can eliminate Washington on the road in Game 6 on Monday night and move on to the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. After a 6.00 goals-against average and .839 save percentage in Games 1 and 2, he has a 2.00 GAA and .943 save percentage since as the series’ biggest difference-maker.
In his first season as a fulltime NHL starter, the 23-yearold is a Vezina Trophy finalist after leading the league with 44 wins and eight shutouts.
“His ability to be able to turn the page now and understand, ‘You know what, there might be a tough night for you, but I’m going to go out the next night anyway and I’ve got to be there for my team,’ — I think that’s where his growth process has really come in,” Cooper said.
If the Capitals can crack Vasilevskiy like they did before, there will be a Game 7 on Wednesday night at Tampa Bay. But they’d better figure that out and get an even better game from Braden Holtby because the Lightning are 11-0 in the playoffs when scoring three-plus goals.