After an extremely difficult first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs, as if nothing had happened, the two-time Stanley Cup champions completely muzzled the best offense of the last 27 years in the NHL. They thus swept the winners of the Presidents’ Trophy, who had amassed 122 points in the season.
Panthers players may find some comfort in the fact that in 2019, before they began collecting championships, the Lightning suffered the same fate in the first round of the playoffs (after a 128-point season) against a 8th place team, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Also, when the time comes to dissect this lightning elimination, the leaders of the Panthers will have to note, in particular, that it is difficult to guard against a historic performance by a goalkeeper.
Because this series comes down to the extraordinary domination of Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Sunday evening, in the fourth game of this Florida series, the Russian goalkeeper made 49 saves to shut out the Panthers 2-0, while the latter had never been excluded from the score sheet this season. What’s more, it was the sixth time that Vasilevskiy recorded a shutout in a game where his team had the chance to eliminate an opponent. No other goaltender in history has managed to seal so many series with such aplomb.
In recent years, he has earned a reputation as a particularly intractable goalkeeper in important moments. A few weeks ago, the annual survey of the Players Association also revealed that 37.4% of them would bet on Vasilevskiy if they had a crucial match to win. His closest pursuer in this poll was Carey Price, with 13.9% of the vote.
To inspire such respect in his peers, Vasilevskiy had never before been as dominant as he has just been against the Panthers, against whom he has just compiled a mind-blowing .981 save percentage.
To understand what happened during the Lightning-Panthers series, one need only know that the number of quality scoring chances was almost equal on each side during those four games. The Lightning had 52 and the Panthers had 47. But by the end of the broadcasts, the total score was 10-3 (excluding three empty-net goals) in favor of Tampa Bay.
Athletes and coaches like to believe that it is always possible to find a solution to find the way to victory. It’s probably reassuring, but it’s not true. Sometimes you have to know how to bow before the immensity of a talent.
Last year, it was believed that the Lightning goaltender had come closer to the hockey gods by posting rates of .940 against the Hurricanes, .940 against the Islanders and .943 against the Canadiens in the last three rounds of the series. However, what Vasilevskiy has just accomplished against an attack as diversified as that of the Panthers puts him in a completely different category.
In NHL history, only three other goaltenders (Tony Esposito in 1974, with a .982; Patrick Lalime in 2002, with a .985; and Tuukka Rask in 2013, with .985) have managed to play a complete elimination round by stopping at least 98% of the shots aimed at them.
However, until last Sunday, no goalkeeper had achieved this feat by facing as many shots (154) as Andrei Vasilevskiy or by crossing swords with the best team on the calendar and, moreover, the best offense in the NHL.
Vasilevskiy’s performance is even more impressive when you consider that the previous playoff round against the Leafs was his toughest (.897) since the Lightning’s unbeaten streak began in the summer of 2020. has been used more than Vasilevskiy in the last three seasons, which makes his level of excellence all the more admirable.
By beating the Panthers, the Lightning won their tenth straight playoff series. In the history of the league, only the two dynasties of CH (1956-1960 and 1976-1979) and that of the Islanders (1980-1983) have managed to stick 10 winning series in a row during the big spring tournament. The record of 19, held by the Islanders, may never be broken.
The Habs had Plante and Dryden. The Islanders were betting on Billy Smith. When you look closely, it’s arguable that Andrei Vasilevskiy’s role in the Lightning’s success was even more instrumental because it came against the backdrop of a tightly compressed salary cap and the formation of his team. has undergone several significant changes.
In two and a half playoff runs, the Lightning have already used more players than the CH and Islanders dynasties have done in five or four years.
The sports world is sometimes completely unpredictable and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
Eleven days ago, the Lightning were literally beleaguered by the Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs. Completely overwhelmed by events, the champions faltered and narrowly avoided elimination in overtime.
Since then, Vasilevskiy took matters into his own hands and, again, anything seems possible for the Lightning.
The Rangers or the Hurricanes, who will eventually meet Tampa Bay in the semi-finals, just have to watch out.
