The Tampa Bay Lightning gushed about Andrei Vasilevskiy after the superstar goaltender posted a 49-save shutout against the Florida Panthers on Monday night to sweep their in-state rivals.
"There is never a doubt in our locker room. And a goalie’s job, that if you want to be elite, is to give your team a chance to win," head coach Jon Cooper said.
He added: "It can probably be a little bit demoralizing on the other side, when you look at him and you just don't feel like you can score."
Vasilevskiy put forth a brilliant performance in Round 2, allowing only three goals and stopping 10.06 goals above expected across four contests against the league's most potent regular-season offense.
The reigning Conn Smythe winner has drastically turned around his game after posting uncharacteristically poor numbers in the first round versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. After recording a .880 save percentage in Game 1-6 against the Leafs, Vasilevskiy owns a .971 clip in five appearances since.
Vasilevskiy's shutout on Monday was his sixth in an elimination game, establishing a new NHL record.
"It's pretty impressive," Lightning forward Alex Killorn said, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "I think when we look back and we're older, that's going to be something that stays there for a long time. It's pretty cool to play with a player that I think will go down as one of the best goalies that's ever played the game. That's how you gauge players, is how they perform in big-time games, and he's been nothing but tremendous in these games."
