VASILEVSKIY LOOKING TO REBOUND IN GAME 2
It was just before the Tampa Bay Lightning stepped onto the ice for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, when Sportsnet cameras showed an amped-up Andrei Vasilevskiy going through his rather strange routine of rushing toward his teammates and staring each of them straight in the eyes.
A few hours later, it wouldn't have been surprising if the 27-year-old goalie wanted to crawl in a hole and hide.
That's how average Vasilevskiy had looked in a 5-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. This was not the effort that anyone had expected out of the two-time defending champs. Nor was it a characteristic performance from last year's playoff most valuable player.
So much for all that talk about how Tampa Bay had the overwhelming edge in net.
It's just one game, of course. But if there was a takeaway from the series opener, it was that Toronto's Jack Campbell is more than ready to battle — and that no matter how dominant Vasilevskiy has been over his career, the Leafs shooters can make even the best goalie in the world look human.
That's something that Auston Matthews, who scored twice and had an assist, or Mitch Marner, who had a goal and two assists, couldn't say in the past.
Go down the list.
Whether it was Washington's Braden Holtby, Boston's Tuukka Rask or Montreal's Carey Price, the Leafs have had the misfortune of playing against the cream of the crop when it comes to game-stealing goalies. But they have never made one look as ordinary as Vasilevskiy did Monday.
The former Vézina Trophy winner gave up five goals on 33 shots. Not all of them were his fault. In fact, with the exception of a miscue on a dump-in behind his own net, few could be blamed on Vasilevskiy, who faced a couple of breakaways, several 2-on-1s and more odd-man rushes than you can count on one hand.
“With that amount of chances, you kind of are asking for it,” said Lightning forward Pierreedouard Bellemare.
By the end of the night, Toronto outshot Tampa Bay 33-24.
“One goalie actually had to work and the other goalie didn't have to work that hard,” said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. “And so, the number looks bad. But let's be honest: Marner's (goal) was an open net on a bad sort by us and (David) Kampf's was a breakaway. Let's look at the other things he did. He stopped (William) Nylander on a breakaway, you can go down the list.”
That being said, it was still odd not to see Vasilevskiy come up with more saves.
After all, he is the best goalie in the world. A goalie who the players recently voted as who you'd want in net for a must-win game. He has a knack for standing on his head, for stealing games, for doing the impossible. As much firepower as Tampa has at its disposal, he has been the team's X-factor — if not their rock — during these past two seasons.
As such, Vasilevskiy did not hide after what was easily the worst playoff loss of his career.
Instead, he stood up in front of his teammates and continued to try and motivate.
“To be honest, I was more impressed about the way he was in the locker-room after the game,” said Bellemare. “He wasn't bothered. He just said to make sure we understand what happened and focus on the next one coming up.
“You don't want to lose the game, but at the end of the day you understand that it's the playoffs. It's not about this game, especially. We have to understand that there's another one coming quick and we have to focus on that one.”
The Leafs are also putting this game behind them. They know how good Tampa Bay is and how rare it is for the Lightning to lay an egg in the playoffs.
No one expects that Campbell will post another shutout. Not against a team with Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point leading the offence. Even fewer expect Vasilevskiy will not be better.
“I'm expecting him to respond, just like their team,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Vasilevskiy. “So our mindset is not going to change. Our mindset and our respect for our opponent, none of that has changed. I think, in fact, the respect level that we have for them is a big reason why we played the way we did and were as focused and prepared as we were.”
The last time Vasilevskiy lost two in a row in the post-season was when the team was swept by Columbus in the opening round of the 2019 playoffs. Since then, he's gone 14-0 following a loss, with a 1.35 goals-against average and five shutouts.
In other words, the don't expect Vasilevskiy to give up another five goals in Game 2.
“Vasy's the man,” said Cooper. “I want no other guy back there but him. I think if we don't have him in the net it was going to be a lot worse.”
It's not about this game, especially. We have to understand that there's another one coming quick and we have to focus on that one.