With the Lightning not holding a draft pick until the final selection in the third round this year and the compressed schedule that lumped the Seattle Expansion Draft and the Entry Draft so close to the team’s successful title defense, it’s been an oddly subdued draft year for the Lightning. That’s compounded by the oddity … Read more

Lightning dynasty is crowned. MTL-0TB-1 Tampa Bay Wins the Series 4-1 Tampa Bay Wins Back-to-Back Stanley Cup Championships Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 22 shots he faced for his fifth straight series-closing SO victory and win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. To put his closeout streak in perspective, Chris Osgood of the vaunted … Read more

Hockey gods push series back to Tampa. TB-2MTL-3 (OT) Tampa Bay Leads the Series 3-1 Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 21 shots for the loss. Guess he was saving the forcefield for the real closeout game. First Period15:38 MTL Anderson (4), (Suzuki, Caufield) Second Period17:20 TB Goodrow (2), (McDonagh, Coleman) Third Period8:48 MTL Romanov … Read more

Lightning throttle Canadiens to put themselves on the precipice of becoming a dynasty. TB-6MTL-3 Tampa Bay Leads the Series 3-0 Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 35 shots for the victory. Tonight was his worst game in a really long while. Allowed one howler and two other goals that were probably beneath his standards. And … Read more

Vasilevskiy and the Lightning manufacture a 2-0 series lead. MTL-1TB-3 Tampa Bay Leads the Series 2-0 Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed one goal on 43 shots for the victory. He didn’t run away from the media trying to cast this series as a showdown between him and future HOF’er Carey Price, and tonight he got the better … Read more

Lightning humble upstart Canadiens to set the tone. MTL-1TB-5 Tampa Bay Leads the Series 1-0 Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed one goal on 19 shots for the victory. Made his usual spate of timely saves and was only beaten by a double deflection through traffic. Hard to see Montreal beating Vasilevskiy four times if they can only … Read more

Lightning choke the life out of Islanders to advance to Stanley Cup Final. NYI-0TB-1 Tampa Bay Wins the Series 4-3 Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 18 shots he faced for his fourth straight series clinching shut out going back to last season’s Stanley Cup Final against Dallas. As good as Carey Price’s numbers have been on … Read more

Islanders survive a two goal deficit and Espo’s Rule to force Game Seven. TB-2NYI-3 (OT) Series Tied 3-3 Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 28 shots for the OT loss. He didn’t look 100% settled tonight, but there weren’t any goals that were particularly soft. Still, the Lightning needed that one more situational save and … Read more

Tampa Bay opens the gates of hell on the Islanders. NYI-0TB-8 Tampa Bay Leads the Series 3-2 Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 21 shots he faced for the shutout victory. Didn’t have a ton of work. Made what he had look pretty easy. First Period0:45 TB Stamkos (6), (Killorn, Cirelli)11:04 TB Gourde (4), (Coleman)15:27 TB Killorn … Read more

Disastrous Second Period leads to tied series. TB-2NYI-3 Series Tied 2-2 Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 30 shots for the loss. None of the three goals were soft, but the Lightning really needed one more situational save in that Second Period to give themselves a chance. First PeriodNO SCORING Second Period5:30 NYI Bailey (6), … Read more