An insane Andrei Vasilevskiy stat from Game 7 shows that he single-handedly stole one from the Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs threw everything they had at the Tampa Bay Lightning and nearly won a 7-game series against the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champs. Only two things stood in their way. One-sided officiating and Andrei Vasilevskiy.
It sounds like I'm making excuses for the Leafs, which, depending on your perspective, might be true. Facts are facts. The Leafs did lose the series. Facts are facts. The Leafs were penalized more than Tampa in the series. Facts are facts. Andrei Vasilevskiy was a brick wall in OT in Game 6 and the entirety of Game 7.
Obviously, there is nothing the Leafs could have done about the officiating. It's been bad and wildly inconsistent in more than one series this year, but it hasn't been worse for anyone than it was for the Leafs, who were the most penalized team in round 1. In terms of Vasilevskiy turning it on at the end of the series after being a sub .900 goaltender prior? Well, that's also out of the Leafs' control.
According to Evolving Hockey, Vasilevskiy put up a 2.42 goals saved above expected in Game 7 in all situations. Now, of course the Leafs could have gotten more traffic in front of him. Of course they could have driven harder to the net. They could have fired more pucks from angles that provided rebounds. They could have done all of these things, but none of it would have guaranteed them anything against arguably the best goaltender in the National Hockey League.
The Leafs outshot the Bolts 31-25 in the contest. The Lightning also blocked nearly 30 shots. The Leafs fired several pucks high and several pucks wide. They dominated in the faceoff dot, they out-hit the Bolts and they had 1 extra power play opportunity. None of it led to any success because of how dialed in Vasilevskiy was.
Look. This isn't Anton Forsberg. This is Andrei Vasilevskiy - a two-time Stanley Cup winner, a Vezina Trophy winner, a Conn Smythe Trophy winner. When he's on, he's on. What his 2.42 goals saved above expected means is that the Leafs should have finished the game with 3.42 goals. 4.42 goals if you consider the John Tavares goal that was negated by the Justin Holl penalty.
Facts are facts. The Leafs didn't get the job done on Saturday in Game 7. But, facts are facts. Vasilevskiy didn't get them much to work with.
| POLL | ||
MAI 15 | 3079 ANSWERS An insane Andrei Vasilevskiy stat from Game 7 shows that he single-handedly stole one from the Leafs Did Andrei Vasilevskiy steal Game 7 from the Leafs? | ||
| Definitely | 790 | 25.7 % |
| Not at all | 570 | 18.5 % |
| The officials were to blame | 1474 | 47.9 % |
| The Leafs just leafed it up | 245 | 8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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