After a 3-0 loss to Ottawa to end a five-game road trip on Saturday, the Lightning looked to rebound at home and get back in the win column.
The Lightning did just that with a 3-2 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings.
Victor Hedman and Taylor Raddysh scored the goals in regulation, and Matthieu Joseph scored his fifth of the season in overtime to give the Lightning the 3-2 overtime win.
This game would have ended seconds before the Joseph goal if not for a great save by Andrei Vasilevskiy.
We are running out of adjectives and superlatives to describe what Andrei Vasilevskiy means to this team, and the great saves he makes every night.
The Lightning got off to a sluggish start and never led in the game. Some great goaltending by Vasilevskiy kept the Bolts in the game until Joseph had the game-winner.
With the win, the Lightning is 18-6-4 and remains two points behind Toronto for the lead in the Atlantic Division.
This game would have been over seconds earlier, if not a complete split save by Vasilevskiy. Anze Kopitar of the LA Kings had a breakaway chance by was stonewalled by Vasilevskiy sticking his left leg out and doing a full split in the process to keep the puck out of the net.
Most other goalies would have had no chance to stop that shot, but that is why Andrei Vasilevskiy is the best goalie in the world.
Jon Cooper commented on the save of the game by Vasilevskiy. “Any male that watched that cringed,” You can check out the salve for yourself below.
Jon Cooper talked further about how Vasilevskiy was able to make that save, whereas most other goalies would not have been able to stop that breakaway.
It’s just his athletic ability. He works at that, though. He’s constantly hydrating. He’s constantly stretching, and it’s for plays like that. It helps that he’s 6’3″, 6’4″, or whatever he is. But his ability to go post to post and lateral and seal the ice is incredible. Kopitar made a nice move. Not too many guys can make that save, and he’s one of them.”
This was the 11th overtime game of the year for the Lightning after playing in only ten overtime games last season.
When you get into overtime, at least you’re munching points like I always say,” Cooper said. “Definitely some confidence when you get saves as Vasy made thereon Kopitar. Overtime’s part of the game. Getting points is part of the game. I think we’ve been in more (overtime games) this year than we had all of last year combined. Obviously, get some favorable results, but it comes with belief, winning games. The guys believe we can win games, especially over time. That’s what they’ve been doing.”
The Lightning has one more game at home Thursday against The Ottawa Senators before embarking on a three-game road trip to Colorado, Vegas, and Arizona.
