Vasilevskiy Airs Grievances, Gets Brutally Honest Regarding Bolts' Early Exit

Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was very open in his criticism of the team's recent play that saw them eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. Photo Credit: Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports

By Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports

The Tampa Bay Lightning wrapped up what many would consider a successful regular season: 50 wins with 106 points, good enough for second place in the very competitive Atlantic Division. However, another early first-round exit in the Stanley Cup playoffs has left many with a sour taste in their mouths, including Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy's.

Vasilevskiy had some choice words for reporters on Tuesday morning regarding the team's recent efforts.

The Vezina Trophy finalist for 2025-26 called out his teammates and head coach Jon Cooper after the team failed to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the fourth day in a row. This time, the Lightning fell to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games.

“We have to man up out here. Our big players have to be our best players. We all have to do our jobs," Vasilevskiy said, speaking to the media on Tuesday. "I have to make saves. Defense has to block shots, kill penalties. Offense, they should shoot and score goals."

"When one part of the team does the job, and the other doesn’t, that’s the end of our season.”

Tampa Bay struggled to keep up with the Canadiens throughout the Eastern Conference First Round series, falling behind in all but Game 6. Vasilevskiy excelled in Game 6, recording a shutout and stopping 30 shots, and helped force a Game 7 at home.

Unfortunately, the Russian netminder was the victim of two bad-bounce goals Sunday night that won Montreal Game 7, 2-1, and eliminated the Lightning. Montreal managed only nine shots in the game.

The first goal by Nick Suzuki was redirected in the Lightning net off the leg of Tampa Bay's JJ Moser. The second was batted in mid-air by Alex Newhook and bounced off the back leg of Vasilevskiy for the series winner.

Tampa Bay had 29 shots on Montreal goalie Jakub Dobeš, but only managed one goal.

Vasilevskiy was obviously upset with the result, choosing to forgo waiting for his teammates at his crease for stick taps and heading straight to center ice for the traditional handshakes between teams.

When asked about the difference between the Lightning's Stanley Cup runs and the last few years, the Bolts' goalie was quite candid.

“I was actually thinking about that a lot. And I felt like during these winning years, we were kind of picking each other up, like sometimes the defense did a great play, like a great block, like a huge save, and the next few shifts we would spend in the other zone and score a big goal," Vasilevskiy said. "But now, after a big save or a big blocked shot, it seems to be like we're just giving up more scoring chances, and in the end, we just give up a goal and not scoring one."

"So I think that's the big difference between those years and the last few years. So just, you know, part of the journey.”

Cooper, who's been the head coach of the Lightning since 2013, expressed his frustration with Sunday night's loss, citing the bad bounces and quipping that the "hockey gods" were not on Tampa Bay's side.

“The Hockey Gods have been in my corner many, many times, and tonight they were in the other corner. And that’s what happens," Cooper said Sunday night. "It’s not the movies, it’s not something where you can retake it and get the scene right. It’s live theater, right there in front of you. And you never know what’s going to happen."

Vasilevskiy took exception.

"I feel like that's been our excuse for the last few years," Vasilevskiy said. "The hockey gods, bad bounces ... yeah, bad bounces for sure, but at the end of the day it's like a broken record."

Vasilevskiy further challenged the response, as well as his teammates going forward, as they look to recover from yet another postseason setback.

“We just have to work for it [getting bounces]. You look at Carolina, they're so consistent throughout the years, and they just work for it. Like on the ice, all 60 minutes," he said. "And I don't know, what we do is just complain about the ice quality at home, that surely works for the other teams. But again, I'll just try to do my job.”

Now that the Lightning offseason is here, Vasilevskiy will await the results of the Vezina voting. Vasilevskiy posted a 2.18 GAA and .897 save percentage over seven playoff games, following a regular season in which he had a 39-15-4 record with a 2.31 GAA and .911 save percentage over 58 outings.