Cooper: Lalonde made up story about Vasilevskiy's weakness
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper denied what his former assistant, Derek Lalonde, said about Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy on national TV in Canada earlier this week.
Lalonde, now the Detroit Red Wings head coach, has provided in-studio analysis for Sportsnet during these playoffs. He said Monday night that the Lightning coaching staff restructured its defensive coverage during his tenure to compensate for Vasilevskiy's apparent weakness in tracking shots from long range.
Incredible info from Derek Lalonde (fmr TBL asst coach) on Vasilevskiy's weakness:
— Jack Han (@JhanHky) April 25, 2023
"We did a study...he was one of the lower-percentage goalies in finding pucks from the point...we changed our entire Dzone (coverage)." pic.twitter.com/xNOE1TbiYB
Cooper suggested Lalonde conjured up the anecdote when asked about it Wednesday.
"Sportsnet is paying him well to go give an opinion, so he's got to make something up about that kind of stuff," Cooper said.
"He's there because he was an assistant coach on this team, so he's trying to offer insight and trying to give the fans something, and so he should be doing that," the bench boss added. "He's just got to make sure it's accurate what he's saying."
Cooper reiterated his stance when asked whether he felt Lalonde gave out too much inside information.
"Well, it's got to be accurate before you say it, that's my only (criticism)," he said.
Lalonde was an assistant coach under Cooper for the previous four seasons. The Red Wings hired him as head coach last July.
Vasilevskiy has allowed a handful of goals from long range during the Lightning's first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which Tampa trails 3-1.
Vasilevskiy uses a high stance on pucks above the tops of the circles. It's used to see over screens and some goalies use it to show less net from the perimeter. Here he's using it in a shootout. The key is getting into his stance before the player is going to shoot. pic.twitter.com/vIc7rLeJFW
— Rob Gherson (@goalie_school) April 25, 2023
He gets in trouble when he can't get into his stance before the shot is taken. This leads to rushing his movement and downward momentum to get into the stance messing with his eyes and his ability to react directly to shots and a move I just coined called 'panic flopping' pic.twitter.com/QjXJVSj6BJ
— Rob Gherson (@goalie_school) April 25, 2023
Vasilevskiy has surrendered a league-high 19 goals with a .856 save percentage - the lowest among all netminders who've played at least three games - in this postseason. The 28-year-old posted a .915 clip over 60 games during the regular season for his lowest pre-playoff save percentage since 2015-16.
Cooper, Lalonde, and Vasilevskiy won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships together in 2020 and 2021 and reached another final in 2022.