The best goaltender in the world has seemingly lost his way.
The overtime goal Morgan Rielly scored in Game 3 in Tampa was somewhat dubious. So was the tying goal by Ryan O’Reilly. But in fairness, the deflected overtime goal scored by the unlikely Alex Kerfoot in Game 4 was a goal nobody stops. Same with the two goals scored by Auston Matthews.
The last time either the Lightning or Vasilevskiy lost three playoff games in a row was the year they stunningly swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2019. Since then, Vasilevskiy has lost two games in a row on occasion, but until this week, not two in a row at home.Bowman watches the Lightning closely and doesn’t see technical flaws in his game. It’s not like he’s out of position. It’s not like he’s lost his ability to hit the fastball. He still looks like Vasilevskiy.
Here’s the difference with the Lightning. The Gourde line was the third line on the championship teams. The Cirelli line is the second line on this Tampa team. This is what happens when you win: The lineup erodes over time.TSN goalie analyst Jamie McLennan credits the Leafs with doing a great job in front of Vasilevskiy, especially by deflecting pucks. But he doesn’t think Vasilevskiy is doing enough to find pucks, or using his size to ensure positioning in the net.
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