TAMPA -- Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is considering an equipment upgrade to help him in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I don't know," Vasilevskiy said. "Maybe I'll buy myself some [bleeping] X-ray glasses."
The Lightning trail 3-1 in the best-of-7 series. Game 5 is in Toronto on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TBS, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSUN).
Vasilevskiy has been the backbone of the Lightning's run to the Stanley Cup Final the past three seasons, including Cup championships in 2020 and 2021. But he has struggled through four games against the Maple Leafs, with a 4.33 goals-against average and .856 save percentage.
He acknowledged that the Maple Leafs' effort to get pucks on net from the blue line and create traffic in front of the net has given him problems.
"I'm 100 percent sure it's a game plan for them and so far they've executed that plan well," Vasilevskiy said. "Lots of screens, tips, deflections and obviously we haven't got much luck on those tips and bounces as well. But it happens in the playoffs. We just have to work hard to get over it."
[RELATED: Complete Maple Leafs vs. Lightning series coverage]
The Lightning have tried to close the middle of the ice, particularly in the slot where Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander can create high-danger scoring chances. But Vasilevskiy also said that Toronto is no longer solely relying on those opportunities, making them a more dangerous team offensively than they were in the first round of the 2022 playoffs, when the Lightning won in seven games.
"Last year they were trying to play more of a skill game," Vasilevskiy said. "I'm not sure if they've done something different or if we're not doing as good of a job as a team up front. But last year they played more skilled hockey; this year they are playing more playoff hockey to score those ... I don't want to say garbage goals ... but [greasy] goals."
There also have been questions about whether Vasilevskiy historically has struggled seeing pucks from the blue line. Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, a Lightning assistant from 2018-22, suggested as much while doing analysis for Sportsnet.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said that he heard about Lalonde's comments and dismissed them as not being accurate.
"Sportsnet is paying him well to give an opinion, so he's got to make something up about that kind of stuff," Cooper said. "He's trying to offer insight and give the fans something. He should be doing that. He's just got to make sure he's accurate in what he's saying."
The outside noise is something Cooper doesn't have much time for with the Lightning facing elimination. He was more concerned about a strong effort at practice Wednesday and being fully focused on what has to be done Thursday.
"I think that day off (Tuesday) did us well," Cooper said. "We're not going to win a series in our next game. We've just got to win one game and we've done that ample times this year."
The Lightning have had plenty of positive moments during the series. They controlled play for most of Game 3 and held a 3-2 lead in the final minute of the third period before Ryan O'Reilly tied the game and Morgan Rielly scored in overtime.
In Game 4, Tampa Bay dominated the first two periods and held a 4-1 lead before Toronto scored three goals in a span of 6:20 in the third period to tie the game, and then Alexander Kerfoot won it in overtime.
Forward Pat Maroon said the Lightning can't think about what might have been.
"It could be 3-1 for us, it could be 2-2 right now," Maroon said. "It's in the past. It's over. Playoff hockey is a game of inches. It's getting the puck in, getting the puck out, winning your puck battles on the wall. Getting in front of the net, scoring the dirty goals. It's just outworking your opponent and doing the little things."
Forward Steven Stamkos said elimination games are less about the skill of a team and more about their willingness to do everything possible to stay alive. It's something the Lightning captain has seen out of his teammates many times during a run that has seen Tampa Bay win 11 of 12 playoff series during the previous three postseasons.
"When your back is against the wall it's either fight or flight," Stamkos said. "You either say it's going to be too hard to come back and you don't give your best effort, or you go out there and lay it all on the line. That's what I expect this group to do."
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5obC5jb20vbmV3cy90YW1wYS1iYXktbGlnaHRuaW5nLWFuZHJlaS12YXNpbGV2c2tpeS1mYWNpbmctZWxpbWluYXRpb24taW4tZ2FtZS01L2MtMzQzOTIzMDMy0gEA?oc=5
2023-04-26 20:18:25Z
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