Andrei Vasilevskiy blanks the Stars in Stanley Cup Finals rematch

NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning at Philadelphia Flyers

Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tyumen, Russia recorded his second consecutive shutout on Saturday for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Three days after blanking the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Wednesday, Vasilevskiy shutout the Dallas Stars in a 2020 Stanley Cup Finals rematch 5-0.

Vasilevskiy made 20 saves overall on Saturday. He made six saves in the first period, eight saves in the second period, and six saves in the third period. Interestingly, Vasilevskiy only has two shutouts all season long and they have each came in the last 72 hours. In 2020-21, Vasilevskiy also has a record of 12 wins, three regulation losses, and one loss in extra time. He has a goals against average of 1.75 and a save percentage of .938.

Vasilevskiy’s 12 wins lead the National Hockey League. He is also second in the NHL in goals against average . Vasilevskiy is only behind Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights. Fleury is currently at a remarkable 1.59. Vasilevskiy is also second in save percentage, and only three percentage points back of Fleury, who leads the NHL at .941. When it comes to shutouts this season, Vasilevskiy is in a tie for fourth behind Fleury, Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson of Pittsburgh, PA, and Semyon Varlamov of the New York Islanders, who each have three shutouts.

Offensively for the Lightning on Saturday, four players had multi-point games in the five-goal Tampa Bay win. Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli each had one goal and one assist for two points, while Mikhail Sergachev and Tyler Johnson each had two assists. Cirelli meanwhile is getting high praise for his shorthanded goal on a breakaway, which put Tampa Bay up 2-0 at the time. The other Lightning goal scorers were Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, and Patrick Maroon of St. Louis, MO.

Vasilevskiy now has 23 career shutouts. All have come with the Lightning.

With the win, Tampa Bay is in a first-place tie with the Florida Panthers in the Central Division. Both teams are at 29 points.

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