Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: On precipice of major record
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Vasilevskiy made 20 saves in a 3-2 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday.
The game was tight throughout, with the Blues holding a slim 2-1 lead until the 8:51 mark of the third. Vasilevskiy has lost two straight games after ringing up three consecutive wins. His next win will be his 300th, and he'll shatter a 61-year-old record for the quickest NHL goaltender to reach that number. Jacques Plante is the record holder at 528 games, but Vasy has played just 488 games. Vasilevskiy came into 2024-25 looking to rebound from what was his worst statistical season of his career, but he's seen some struggles. His 2.59 GAA and .903 save percentage are decent, but he hasn't stolen games for the Bolts this season.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Starting in St. Louis
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Vasilevskiy was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida & Sun reports, indicating he will defend the road net Tuesday versus the Blues.
Vasilevskiy's three-game winning streak ended in a 5-3 loss to Minnesota on Friday. He has a 6-4-0 record with one shutout, a 2.54 GAA and a .906 save percentage through 10 appearances this campaign. St. Louis ranks 24th in the league with 2.67 goals per game in 2024-25.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Lets in three goals in loss
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Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 20 shots in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Wild. The last two goals were empty-netters.
Vasilevskiy kept the game close, but the Wild scored three times over the final six minutes, twice when he had left the crease for an extra attacker. This snapped his three-game winning streak, and fantasy managers will have to hope he doesn't go on a skid like he did after his opening winning streak was snapped. The 30-year-old is 6-4-0 with a 2.54 GAA and a .906 save percentage over 10 starts. The Lightning continue their road trip with a massive challenge Sunday in Winnipeg.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: First goalie off Friday
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Vassilevskiy was the first goalie to leave the ice Friday, Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida reports, indicating he'll patrol the crease on the road versus the Wild.
Vasilevskiy has played in all but one of the Lightning's first 10 contests, posting a 6-3-0 record to go with a 2.47 GAA and .911 save percentage. Without any back-to-backs in the short term, the 29-year-old backstop should continue to see the bulk of the workload moving forward but eventually might get a night off.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Records third straight win
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Vasilevskiy stopped 33 of 35 shots in Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Avalanche.
Vasilevskiy has struggled with consistency throughout the first weeks of the regular season. He opened with a three-game winning streak only to lose three in a row between Oct. 19 and Oct. 24. However, he's bounced back with another three-game winning run in which he's posted a 1.31 GAA and an impressive .962 save percentage. Vasilevskiy will aim to extend his winning streak when facing the Wild on Friday, though it's uncertain if he'll get the start after playing three games across the last five days.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Set to start Wednesday
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Vasilevskiy was the first goalie off Wednesday, Ryan Boulding of NHL.com reports, indicating he'll start on the road against Colorado.
Vasilevskiy has earned wins in his last two starts, posting a 0.97 GAA and .971 save percentage over those outings. He'll attempt to stay hot against the Avalanche, who have scored 3.60 goals per game over 10 contests this year.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Difference maker in OT win
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Vasilevskiy made 35 saves on 37 shots in Monday's 3-2 overtime win over the Predators.
Vasilevskiy was the difference maker in the game. He really was --the Preds were all over the Lightning at times. Take out Vasy's three losses to the Senators, Maple Leafs and Wild where he allowed 12 goals, and the big netminder has allowed just seven snipes in his five other games, all wins. Vasilevskiy's ratios are currently impacted by that three-game skid, but we expect his .905 save percentage to up and his 2.53 GAA go down.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Set to face Nashville
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Vasilevskiy will be between the pipes for Monday's home matchup against the Predators, according to Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida.
Vasilevskiy ended his three-game losing skid with a 32-save shutout win against Washington on Saturday. He has a 4-3-0 record with a 2.64 GAA and an .896 save percentage through seven outings this season. Nashville has scored 21 goals in eight games this campaign despite leading the league with 35.8 shots per game.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: First-star effort in win
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Vasilevskiy made 32 saves in a 3-0 win over Washington on Saturday.
Vasilevskiy goalied the Capitals on Saturday, earning his first shutout of the season and the 35th of his career. He was the game's first star for the effort. Vasilevskiy got his first win in four games after losses to Ottawa, Toronto and Minnesota.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Set to start Saturday
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Vasilevskiy will protect the home goal in Saturday's game versus the Capitals, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Vasilevskiy has lost his last three starts, allowing 12 goals on 59 shots in that span. The 30-year-old netminder has struggled since opening the season with three straight wins. Washington is a tough matchup after scoring 26 times over six games this season.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Third straight loss
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Vasilevskiy made 14 saves in a 4-2 loss to the Wild on Thursday.
He allowed three goals, all of which were scored when Vasilevskiy was moving post-to-post. He wasn't out of shape; he simply didn't get across fast enough. The first two were seam passes through the crease that were converted on one-timers. The other was a feed from the corner to Joel Eriksson Ek one-timed through Vasilevskiy from the top of the crease. Vasilevskiy has lost three consecutive games after winning his first three starts. He allowed 12 goals (.797 save percentage) in his last three contests after he allowed just five goals (.931) in his first three outings. There will always be ebbs and flows in the season. Vasilevskiy will settle into a groove soon.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: First off ice Thursday
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Vasilevskiy was the first goaltender off the ice at morning skate, according to Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida, and is slated to get the home start versus Minnesota on Thursday.
After winning his first three starts, Vasilevskiy has lost two in a row, including getting pulled in the second period Monday in Toronto after giving up four goals on 14 shots. The 30-year-old netminder is 3-2-0 with a 3.15 GAA and a .878 save percentage. The Wild are 4-0-2 and scoring 3.33 goals per game.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Poor showing in Monday's loss
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Vasilevskiy stopped 10 of 14 shots before being removed in the second period of Monday's 5-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. He was replaced by Jonas Johansson.
Vasilevskiy has delivered back-to-back subpar showings, as he was coming off a defeat in Ottawa where he gave up five goals on 28 shots. These two losses have destroyed his overall numbers, and even though the Russian netminder was effective early on, he now sits at a 3-2-0 record with a 3.15 GAA and an .878 save percentage. Small-sample size applies here, but his GAA and save percentage would be career-worst marks for the 30-year-old.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Slated to start Monday
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Vasilevskiy was the first goalie off Monday, Gabby Shirley of Bally Sports Florida reports, indicating that he'll draw the start on the road against Toronto.
Vasilevskiy wasn't particularly dominant Saturday against Ottawa, allowing five goals on 28 shots en route to his first loss of the season. However, he's still been relatively effective early in the season, posting a 3-1-0 record, 2.52 GAA and .901 save percentage over his first four starts, and he'll have a chance to bounce back Monday.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Tough night in Ottawa
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Vasilevskiy made 23 saves in a 5-4 loss to Ottawa on Saturday.
It was a tight match, but special teams proved to be the difference. Ottawa went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Tampa Bay was 0-for-3 and allowed a shorthanded goal. The five goals allowed equaled the total that Vasilevskiy had let in over his first three outings. Tough night.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: In goal Saturday
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Vasilevskiy will be between the pipes in Ottawa on Saturday, TSN 1200 Ottawa reports.
Vasilevskiy is aiming for his fourth straight win to start the season. He has given up only five goals on 73 shots (.932 save percentage) and looks to have regained his form after a tough 2023-24 campaign in which he underwent back surgery during training camp and missed the first 20 games of the season. He played in 52 of the last 62 regular-season games, but was less than stellar, going 30-20-2 with a 2.90 GAA and a .900 save percentage. The Senators have found the back of the net 13 times in four games this season.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Strong start to season continues
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Vasilevskiy made 22 saves in a 4-3 win over the Golden Knights on Thursday.
Vasilevskiy's strong start to the season continues. He made several sharp saves to keep the game within reach and when the score was tied. So far, Vasilevskiy is 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .932 save percentage in three starts.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Set to start Thursday
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Vasilevskiy was the first goalie to leave the ice Thursday, Gabby Shirley of Bally Sports Florida reports, indicating he'll be between the pipes at home versus Vegas.
Vasilevskiy is riding a two-game winning streak to open the season in which he has posted a 1.00 GAA and .958 save percentage. Given the 30-year-old backstop preference for playing as often as possible, don't be surprised to see him featuring in upward of 60 games this year, though a back-to-back against Toronto and New Jersey on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, should see Jonas Johansson make his 2024-25 season debut.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Sharp in Tuesday's win
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Vasilevskiy made 26 saves in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Canucks.
He lost his shutout bid early in the third period on a Conor Garland power-play tally, but otherwise Vasilevskiy was sharp once again. He's allowed exactly one goal in each of his first two starts this season with a .958 save percentage, and he appears to be in Vezina form already after back surgery a couple Septembers ago led to an erratic 2023-24 campaign.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: First goalie off Tuesday
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Vasilevskiy was the first goalie to leave the ice Tuesday, Gabby Shirley of Bally Sports Florida reports, indicating he'll be in goal at home versus Vancouver.
Vasilevskiy was solid in the season opener, stopping 20 of 21 shots in a road victory over the Hurricanes. The Bolts will go back to the 30-year-old backstop in their home opener as they look to stop a Canucks' offense that is converting at 3.50 goals per game to open the year. Looking ahead, Vasilevskiy likely will take each of the next two games before splitting a back-to-back against the Maple Leafs and Devils on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, with Jonas Johansson.