Column/Opinion
Steve Gorten: Goalie edge in Panthers v. Lightning went to Vasilevskiy
The season for the Florida Panthers is over, and it’s because they simply couldn’t solve Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in Game 6.
The probable 2021 Vezina Trophy winner stopped 29 shots in a 4-0 Lightning win Wednesday at Amalie Arena in Tampa that wrapped up this first-round playoff series 4-2 for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
“He’s one of the best goalies in the league, if not the best,” said Florida captain Sasha Barkov.
“It’s tough to score on him. You have to get more guys at the net and shoot the puck better. Easy shots on him are not going to go in.”
“We needed to get that first [goal],” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville noted. “We had some great looks, great opportunities. Some didn’t even get on net that could have been the best quality chances we had. …We weren’t able to crack him.”