Andrei Vasilevskiy's start to the post-season certainly did not go the way he wanted it to. The Tampa Bay Lightning star goalie struggled in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers, allowing six goals on just 17 shots.
Vasilevskiy had a bounce-back performance in Game 2 for the Lightning, stopping 21 out of 22 shots he faced. Unfortunately, the Lightning could not solve Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and lost by a 2-0 final score.
Thus, the Lightning went into Game 3 down 2-0 in the series and desperately needed a win to keep their chances of winning the series alive. Without much surprise, Vasilevskiy stepped up right when the Lightning needed him the most and had an incredible performance in Game 3.
Vasilevskiy was simply outstanding for the Lightning in Game 3, as he stopped 33 out of 34 shots in the Bolts' 5-1 win over the Panthers. With this, the Lightning now only trail Florida 2-1 in the series and will have the opportunity to tie it back up in Game 4 on April 28.
Vasilevskiy will now look to build off his strong last two starts in Game 4 against the Panthers from here. If he continues to play this well and the Lightning can keep their offense going, it would help Tampa Bay's chances of tying the series up against the Panthers immensely. We will need to wait and see what kind of performance No. 88 puts together in Game 4 from here.
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