This is not new territory for the Tampa Bay Lightning (Part 1): The Bolts are in the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in eight years.
This is not new territory for the Lightning (Part 2): Coach Jon Cooper and his players have spent the time since their Game 1 loss lamenting how they left the starting gate.
Yes, the Lightning knew it found its game after the first period in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss to the Avalanche, but also know better play in front of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is imperative in order to win Saturday’s Game 2.
“In our Game 1s in this playoff (season), I would not sit here and say we’ve put our best foot forward as a team, not just Vasilevskiy,” Cooper said after practice Friday. “The chances we’ve given up, the areas we’ve given them up, itap not ideal. It doesn’t matter who you put in the net, NHL players and star NHL players are going to score from those areas.”
The Lightning in general and Vasilevskiy in particular have done well flipping the script after the opening game of a series.
Vasilevskiy in four Game 1s this postseason (1-3 record): Allowed 4.0 goals per game and stopped 88.4% of the shots (122 of 138).
Vasilevskiy in three Game 2s this postseason (2-1 record): Allowed 2.3 goals and stopped 92.9% of the shots (91 of 98).
“Once he has a feel for the team and itap usually only taken him a game, he’s been outstanding,” Cooper said. “Vasy just dials himself in. Now he has a feel for the way (the Avs) play, the speed they play with, where they shoot from and thatap what great goalies do — they can figure out teams, too, just like coaches try to figure teams out. Thatap why you see an elite, elite goalie get better as the series goes on because he educates himself just as much as the coaches try to educate a team.”
Said defenseman Victor Hedman: “His record speaks for itself. Itap a team game, but having him back there obviously gives us a lot of confidence and he gives us a chance every time. Vasy’s mental strength is out of this world.”
If Vasilevskiy used the two days between Games 1 and 2 to figure out the Avalanche’s shooting strategy, his teammates have used the time to unlock the ways to better defend. The Avs had 38 shots on goal in Game 1.
“We have to execute our game plan a little bit better than we did in Game 1 and help Vas a little more and let him see the pucks — you know he’s going to make those stops (if he sees the shot),” Hedman said.
Of the Avalanche’s speed, defenseman Ryan McDonagh said: “I don’t think you can ever understand it until you feel it in the first game. They definitely have speed throughout their lineup and they love to go on the attack and hunt and they make good reads on when to dump pucks (in) or when to try and carry it in so you have to constantly push yourself to have good gaps and get the puck out of their hands.”
