After three strong games at the start of the NHL season, Tampa found itself in a zone of turbulence. On October 19, the Lightning lost away to Ottawa (4:5), and on Monday they lost to Toronto, conceding four goals in the second period (2:5). If three days ago there was a goal shootout between “Ottawa” and “Tampa”, which ended in the success of the former, then in the match with the “maple leaves” the key was the play of the Russian “lightning” goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky – he missed four goals after 14 shots and was replaced in the middle of the match.

Karma caught up with Vasilevsky

Before the start of the meeting, Andrei Vasilevsky behaved rather strangely during the warm-up. In one episode, the Tampa goalkeeper drove up to the center of the ice towards Toronto defender Morgan Rielly and, suddenly braking, doused him with ice chips. The Toronto player made no complaints to the Russian goalkeeper, who turned his back to him, sat down on his knees and continued to warm up. But karma caught up with Vasilevsky later.

Andrey Vasilevsky / Photo: © Steve Russell / Contributor / Toronto Star / Gettyimages.ru

Reilly did not respond to the goalkeeper even on the court, which cannot be said about his teammates. For example, William Nylander scored 2+1 using the goal+pass system, and Max Pacioretty sent Vasilevsky to rest after the fourth goal. The Tampa goal was taken by Jonas Johansson. However, after five minutes the Swede conceded.

It’s hard to explain that it was performed by Andrey. It seems that the goalkeeper could not cope with the pressure and nerves even before the match, because this is the only way to explain his missed goals. The photo of Vasilevsky’s broken stick, which was posted by The Hockey News journalist Michael Traikos, confirms this.

If Toronto’s first goal was the fault of Tampa’s defenders, who left Nylander alone in the killer position, then questions need to be asked about the second and third goals.

First, the Russian goalkeeper was unable to secure the puck after Mitchell Marner’s shot, and then did not see it under him when Auston Matthews threw it into the goal. In the episode with Nylander’s double, Vasilevsky missed it between his legs into the near corner after a weak throw. Lightning head coach John Cooper removed the Russian from the game in the 30th minute when he missed Pacioretty’s long shot.

— Such matches happen. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve changed it over the course of our time working together. “JJ” [Юнас Юханссон] didn’t play for the season. It’s time to give him playing time and also let Vasilevskiy rest,” Cooper said.

Fans’ reaction to Vasilevsky’s game

Vasilevskiy hasn’t played this badly since February. Then he allowed six goals in the first two periods in the match with Florida. But the Panthers hit not only the Russian goalkeeper, but also Johansson, who, having replaced Andrei in the third period, failed to save the team three times – 2:9. In that game, Vasilevskiy had a 72.7% save percentage, and in the match with Toronto – 71.4%. His game did not go unnoticed by fans.

• User @pleasecIap: “Vasilevskiy looks very bad.”
• User @HabsTakes: “Vasilevskiy is in a slump.”
• User @Browndalorian: “Sad to see that Vasilevskiy is not the same anymore.”
• User @bperger16: “Maybe Vasilevskiy should have focused more on his warm-up instead of acting like a fool.”
• User @foreveraTMfan: “Vasilevskiy hasn’t been good since the 2022 All-Star break.”
• User @rink7465: “14 months ago Vasilevsky had back surgery. His save percentage since returning is 90.0. Looks like he’s already finished.”
• User @bhags38: “Vasilevsky turned into Georgiev.”
• User @NHL_Watcher: “After his back injury, Vasilevskiy is no longer the same player.”
• User @ticklemanclint: “Vasilevskiy wouldn’t be able to deflect a beach ball if it hit him.”
• User @castlehill814: “Not a very good evening for Vasilevskiy. “Last year was the worst year of his career and the way he’s playing in the last two games doesn’t look good.”
• User @NeufeldBra48489: “If anyone still thinks Tampa is still a good team, or that Vasilevskiy is still a good goalie, think again. They are being destroyed by one of the worst franchises in modern NHL history.”
• User @CgeterdoneC: “Vasilevsky has not been Vasilevsky for four years. He was the best in the world for several years, and then he fell off a lot.”

Thus, over the last two games, the Russian goalkeeper has conceded nine goals, and the percentage of saved shots for the season is already 87.8%.

Author: Pavel Prokhorov