Tampa Bay Lightning: Recent Success Shows The Bolts Are Back

Return Of The Vas

Finally, my last point on the Lightning’s struggles in the past was directed at the reigning, defending, undisputed, Vezina Trophy winner, Andrei Vasilevskiy. When I last looked at “Vasy,” he had played 20 games, going 11-8-1, with a .907% save percentage and a 2.91 GAA. Since then, he has started 10 more games, with an improved record of 19-9-2 (8-1-1 in the last 10 starts).

His save percentage rose to .911%, and his GAA improved to 2.77. Finally, last time I looked at Vasilevskiy, he had a -1.27 GSAA. Since then, he has improved that mark to a 2.38 GSAA. He has improved rapidly, looking to return to his previous form.

Over his last seven starts is when we saw the most improvement. He went 5-0-0, stopped 158 of the 169 shots faced, giving him a .935% save percentage and a 2.20 GAA. He has been the difference-maker throughout this recent win streak for Tampa Bay.

I also looked at backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney in the previous article, where McElhinney had started 7 games, going 3-2-2, with a .908 SV% and a 3.42 GAA. Since that point, he has continued to struggle, as he now has 11 starts, with a 5-4-2 record, a .904 SV% and a 3.19 GAA.

However, like Vasilevskiy, McElhinney has been a factor in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s success recently, starting 2 of the 7 games, going 2-0-0, with a .917 SV% and a 2.00 GAA. Compared to the rest of his season, he has been much, much better for the Lightning, and the team, as well as the fans, are going to need this version of McElhinney the rest of the way.

To conclude, the Lightning have done just about everything right on this win streak, though there are still some holes to fill. However, if Vasilevskiy can continue to play at a high level, the team can continue to play a full 60 minutes in each game, the injuries continue to be a smaller issue and the power play can continue to take advantage at a high rate, then this Lightning team very well could find themselves playing at an elite level like last season.

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