TAMPA, Fla. — Early this season, Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy needed a change. After years of committing himself to an extensive preparation regimen that helped turn him into arguably the best netminder in the world, Vasilevskiy felt like he needed to pull back a bit.
He has played a lot of hockey — averaging 76 games, including playoffs, the past three seasons — but didn’t want to use that as an excuse, even after the Lightning started slowly this season.
“I definitely won’t go in that direction or cry about it,” Vasilevskiy said earlier this season. “It’s a privilege to play lots of hockey.”
