Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tyumen, Russia did not have to be spectacular on Monday. In fact, he did not even have to be average. The Lightning hammered the Islanders goaltending eight times en route to a dominant 8-0 win over New York to take a three games to two lead in game five of the Stanley Cup semi-final.
Vasilevskiy made 21 saves for his third shutout of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and his fourth shutout of his National Hockey League playoff career. He made five saves in the first period, nine saves in the second period, and seven saves in the third period.
Vasilevskiy’s three other playoff shutouts with the Lightning came in a 2-0 Stanley Cup-winning shutout over the Dallas Stars on September 28, 2020, in a 4-0 Lightning win over the Florida Panthers on May 26, and in a 2-0 Lightning win over the Carolina Hurricanes on June 8. Like the shutout against the Stars, the shutouts for Vasilevskiy against the Panthers and Hurricanes also closed out the series.
In the Lightning shutout win on Monday, Anthony Beauvillier and Jean-Gabriel Pageau led the Islanders with four shots on goal each. The Islanders got into significant penalty trouble with undisciplined behavior. Matthew Barzal, Matt Martin, and Scott Mayfield combined for 42 penalty minutes. Barzal was ejected for cross-checking Jan Rutta of the Lightning across the face.
Offensively for the Lightning on Monday, Tampa Bay got two goals each from Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn. Meanwhile, the other four Lightning players who scored were Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, and Luke Schenn. Stamkos and Killorn also had three points, as they each picked up an assist. Nikita Kucherov also had three points as he had three assists. Other Lightning players with a multi-point game were Victor Hedman (two assists), Point (one goal and one assist), and David Savard (two assists).
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