Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Third straight win
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Vasilevskiy made 20 saves Thursday in a 2-1 overtime win over the Stars.
The only puck that got past Vasilevskiy was a redirection from the front of the net, and he didn't have a chance. He was stellar, and it looks like his lackluster start is behind him. Vasilevskiy has won three straight games, including impressive outings against Vegas and Dallas, and he's allowed just four goals in those three matchups. That's a stark contrast to the 17 goals he allowed in his first five games (0-3-2).
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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 and is slated to defend the home goal versus Dallas on Thursday, per Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site.
Vasilevskiy has been ordinary this season, though he has played better of late, winning his last two starts while giving up only three goals on 39 shots. Overall, the 31-year-old netminder is 2-3-2 with a 2.86 GAA and an .893 save percentage across seven starts this season. He has had great success in the past versus Dallas, posting a 15-4-3 mark with a .927 save percentage.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Comes away with win
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Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of 20 shots in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Predators.
Vasilevskiy has now won consecutive starts after an 0-3-2 start to the year. His recent success has corresponded with tighter defense -- he's faced just 39 shots over his two wins, allowing three goals. Getting in the win column should help the 31-year-old regain some confidence for when things get tougher again. He's at a 2-3-2 record with a 2.86 GAA and an .893 save percentage over seven starts. The Lightning host the Stars on Thursday before heading out west for a three-game road trip.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Tending twine in Nashville
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Vasilevskiy will guard the road goal versus the Predators on Tuesday, Brooks Bratten of the Predators' official site reports.
Vasilevskiy picked up his first win of the season Sunday in a 2-1 overtime victory over the Golden Knights. The 31-year-old will look to string some success together now, and he'll have a good chance to do so Tuesday. The Predators have scored just 12 goals over their last five games, going 2-3-1 in that span.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Coasts to first victory Sunday
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Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of 19 shots in Sunday's 2-1 overtime win against the Golden Knights.
Vasilevskiy had a relatively quiet night in net as he faced just eight shots across the first two periods. Regardless, the 31-year-old stayed focused en route to his first win of the season. He has a 1-3-2 record, 3.00 GAA and .892 save percentage through six appearances. It appears that Vasilevskiy is shaking off the rust he experienced in the first few games of the season, as he's allowed just six goals in his last three starts. Expect many more wins to follow for Vasilevskiy, who has 30 or more victories in each of the past eight seasons.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Defending crease Sunday
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Vasilevskiy will patrol the home crease against Vegas on Sunday, Lightning reporter Gabby Shirley reports.
Vasilevskiy will get the second half of Tampa Bay's back-to-back after Jonas Johansson played in Saturday's 4-3 win over Anaheim. The 31-year-old Vasilevskiy is coming off a 22-save effort in Thursday's 3-2 loss to Chicago. He has posted a record of 0-3-2 this season while surrendering 17 goals on 148 shots. Vegas is tied for third in the league with 3.75 goals per game this campaign.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Still winless this season
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Vasilevskiy made 22 saves in a 3-2 loss to Chicago on Thursday.
The loss was heartbreaking -- Vasilevskiy moved out of position to make a save on Frank Nazar, and the rebound when straight to Ryan Donato, who buried the winner into an open net with just 54 seconds left in the third period. Vasilevskiy is 0-3-2 with a 3.41 GAA and .885 save percentage to start the season. Fantasy managers could consider benching him until his cold spell comes to an end.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Starting Thursday
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Vasilevskiy will guard the home goal versus the Blackhawks on Thursday, Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site reports.
Vasilevskiy is off to a 0-2-2 start this season, posting a 3.50 GAA and an .886 save percentage in four games. He's had nearly a week to regroup due to a gap in the Lightning's schedule. The Blackhawks have scored more than three goals just once in their first seven games.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Better effort but remains winless
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Vasilevskiy stopped 29 of 31 shots in Friday's 2-1 overtime loss to the Red Wings.
Vasilevskiy remains winless through four starts, but the last two defeats have come in overtime. Friday's performance was his best of the season so far, despite the end result. He's too talented to have a save percentage under .900 for too long, so it's fair to expect Vasilevskiy to get on track soon -- it's possible he's still shaking off some rust after an injury disrupted his preseason. Look for Jonas Johansson to get the nod versus Columbus on Saturday, while Vasilevskiy will have plenty of rest in preparation for facing the Blackhawks on Thursday.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Tending twine against Detroit
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Vasilevskiy will protect the road goal in Friday's game versus the Red Wings, Lightning reporter Gabby Shirley reports.
Vasilevskiy will make his fourth start of the season while still in search of his first win. He's gone 0-2-1 with 12 goals allowed over his first three games. The Red Wings have 14 goals over four games this season, winning three of them.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Solid but not good enough for win
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Vasilevskiy made 25 saves Tuesday in a 3-2 OT loss to the Capitals.
Vasy was solid; the Caps were simply better. Even still, his overall numbers (4.08 GAA and .870 save percentage) are well below average. We don't think that Vasilevskiy will suffer long term from this. He's one of the top-five twinetenders in the world.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Facing Capitals
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Vasilevskiy will defend the road net against Washington on Tuesday, Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Vasilevskiy will get the second half of Tampa Bay's back-to-back after Jonas Johansson plays in Monday's road matchup versus Boston. The 31-year-old Vasilevskiy has allowed nine goals on 62 shots en route to a record of 0-2-0 to begin the 2025-26 campaign. Washington has netted six goals through three outings this season.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Tough start to season
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Vasilevskiy made 24 saves in Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Devils.
The Bolts started well but were chasing the game after the Devils opened the scoring before the midway point of the first period, and went down 3-0. Tampa Bay has lost two straight to start the season for the first time since 2008. It's a small sample, so we'll give them some time to right the ship. Vasilevskiy will be instrumental in stabilizing the squad, and he'll put the two losses and nine goals against behind him pretty quickly.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Between pipes versus Devils
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Vasilevskiy will guard the home goal versus the Devils on Saturday, Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com reports.
Vasilevskiy's season got off to a mediocre start, as he allowed four goals on 33 shots in a 5-4 loss to the Senators on Thursday. The 31-year-old may need to shake off a little rust after missing nearly all of the preseason. That said, he will start a large portion of the Lightning's games and should produce elite numbers once again this year.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Keeps things close in loss
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Vasilevskiy made 29 saves in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Senators. He allowed four goals.
Dylan Cozens and Artem Zub each beat Vasilevskiy once, and Shane Pinto scored two against him, but thee game was still tied until the 18:13 mark of the third. Vasilevskiy is a strong fantasy option despite Thursday's loss. The Lightning played a bit loose and let a 3-1 lead slip away, which isn't something that's likely to happen often.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Tending twine against Ottawa
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Vasilevskiy was the first goalie off during Thursday's morning skate, Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site signaling that he'll draw the Opening Night start at home against the Senators.
Vasilevskiy dealt with an undisclosed injury for most of training camp, but he suited up in Tampa Bay's preseason finale against Florida on Saturday and will unsurprisingly draw the start in Thursday's regular-season opener. He made 63 regular-season appearances last year, going 38-20-5 with a 2.18 GAA and .921 save percentage, and he should remain one of the league's top netminders during the 2025-26 campaign.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Starting versus Cats
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Vasilevskiy (undisclosed) will tend the twine on the road against the Panthers on Saturday, Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site reports.
Vasilevskiy has been hampered by his undisclosed injury throughout training camp but will get into the crease for the Bolts' preseason finale. With his injury concern seemingly behind him, Vasilevskiy will almost certainly be in goal for Opening Night against the Senators on Thursday.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Could return Saturday
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The Lightning believe that Vasilevskiy (undisclosed) is in line to play in Saturday's preseason finale against the Panthers, Erik Erlendsson of LightningInsider.com reports.
Vasilevskiy has already been ruled out for Thursday's exhibition matchup against the Panthers, but he could have a chance for a final appearance before the start of the regular season. If he's healthy for the start of the 2025-26 campaign, Vasilevskiy remains in line to serve as the Lightning's No. 1 netminder.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Expected to practice Tuesday
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Vasilevskiy (undisclosed) skated Monday before the main group and is poised to participate in Tuesday's practice, Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site reports.
Vasilevskiy has been receiving treatments for an undisclosed issue and hasn't been on the ice much during training camp. However, head coach Jon Cooper called Monday a "promising day" for the 31-year-old netminder. It's still unclear if Vasilevskiy will see any playing time during the preseason, but he appears to be trending in the right direction. The Lightning anticipate that he will be available for the beginning of the 2025-26 campaign.
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Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy: Set to miss this weekend's games
Rotowire
Vasilevskiy (undisclosed) will miss Friday's game against the Hurricanes and Saturday's game against the Predators, but he's expected to return to practice Monday, Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site reports.
Vasilevskiy was last on the ice Friday. He is expected to get the Opening Night start Oct. 9 at home versus Ottawa. Vasilevskiy sparkled in 2024-25, posting a 38-20-5 mark with six shutouts, a 2.18 GAA and a .921 save percentage across 63 regular-season appearances.
