A look at the unorthodox move of returning a young goaltender to his crease

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
March 28, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – Andrei Vasilevskiy took the skate of shame Monday night, forced to exit his crease back to the team bench.

After giving up three goals in the opening 13 minutes in a game the Lightning had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, head coach Jon Cooper wanted to get the team’s attention and put in veteran Peter Budaj.

But it was Cooper’s next move that caught everybody’s attention.

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As the Lightning exited the locker room and made their way down the tunnel toward the ice, it was Vasilevskiy – not Budaj – who emerged first and led the team back out before the start of the second period.

In an unorthodox – but not entirely unprecedented – move, Cooper re-inserted Vasilevskiy in to the net despite having pulled him after allowing three goals on eight shots. Even before the first period ended, Cooper said he had thoughts of putting Vasilevskiy back in the net.

”The faith we have in Vasilevskiy is unwavering,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “At the time of the game, for me, it was a ‘Let’s slow this game down’. I know we’re down 3-1, but there’s a lot of time left. We don’t want this one to get out of hand. Not that we’re sitting here saying it was Vasilevskiy’s doing, but let’s get him out. Let’s take a breath. Buds came in, shut the door the rest of the way. The whole time at the end of the first period in my head I was thinking, ‘I’m going to put that kid back in.’.’’

So during the intermission, Cooper went to Vasilevskiy – the head coach wouldn’t share exactly what was said – and informed the young goaltender that the net would belong to him again starting in the second period.

It’s something that Vasilevskiy wanted, though he admitted it wasn’t something he went looking for during the intermission.

”After the first period, it was like “Damnit’’, but coach give me a second chance,’’ Vasilevskiy said. “I wanted to go back in. But for sure it’s a confidence booster for me. After three goals against in the first (13) minutes, so coach said he would give me a second chance, “Go get ‘em and make some saves for us’. A big confidence booster.’’

Though the Blackhawks upped the lead to 4-1 at the 8:39 mark of the second period, Vasilevskiy did his job the rest of the way after his teammates picked him up and roared back to tie the game by the end of the second period with three goals in a span of 4:39, proving Cooper’s feeling to be true.

”Som times as a coach you’re going with your gut and the feeling I had that we’re going to win this game, Vasilevskiy’s going to win this game for us,’’ Cooper said. “He just had to take a six minute break. He was outstanding after that.’’

That included on his biggest save of the night, flashing out his right pad to stop Patrick Kane, who fought his way to a partial breakaway in the third period that kept the game tied. And just as Cooper showed the confidence in the young netminder, it was returned ten-fold as Vasilevskiy continues to learn what it takes to be a No. 1 goaltender in this league from a mental standpoint.

As he continues to deal with situations like Monday, he’s showing signs of putting together the right mental makeup.

”It shows what type of head sits on his shoulders,’’ defenseman Anton Stralman said. “He is very competitive and he takes every goal like it’s the end of the world, but he always fights through and he showed a lot of character tonight coming back and helped us in every possible way.’’

It was the type of move that proved to work out in Monday, but will no doubt will have ramifications further down the line.

Note:I’ll be adding to this after talking to a former NHL goaltender – who was unavailable on Tuesday – on Wednesday to get an outside perspective on what it meant to send Vasilevskiy back in goal.

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