The Lightning and Bruins' Eastern Conference semifinal may not have been the expected matchup of two Vezina Trophy finalists, but that doesn't mean it's not a goalie battle.
The Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy played up to his billing, even if his stat line didn't reflect that, in Sunday's 3-2 loss at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. And Jaroslav Halak played above his in the opposite net.
The Bruins are without regular starter Tuukka Rask, who is one of the three finalists for goalie of the year along with Vasilevskiy. They had used both Rask and Halak as a tandem in the regular season; Rask as primary but Halak played 31 of 70 games.
He made sure Boston wasn't missing Rask with a big performance, making 36 saves on 37 shots Sunday in the opening game of the second round.
Vasilevskiy gave up three goals on 31 shots, which doesn't look great on a stat line, but his play was much better than that. He couldn't do much on any of the three goals.
First, center Charlie Coyle tipped a shot from defenseman Brandon Carlo that had pulled Vasilevskiy nearly out of the net. Vasilevskiy was in position for that original shot. Then Coyle got his stick on the puck and deflected back over the goalie's opposite shoulder.
In the second period, the Bruins scored a power-play goal on a smart play by David Krejci. The winger carried the puck around the ice, looking for his passing lane. He got from about the point to below the right circle, pulling Vasilevskiy toward that post. Krejci found his opening and snapped the puck to winger David Pastrnak at the left circle for a one-timer.
Finally, in the third period, the so-called "Perfection Line" lived up to the nickname. Center Patrice Bergeron stuck on defenseman Ryan McDonagh, lifting his stick to steal the puck as McDonagh tried to carry out from behind his net. Pastrnak gathered the puck and quickly slid it over to Brad Marchand who ripped it on Vasilevskiy.
Victor Hedman answered with two goals for the Lightning late, but they could not complete the comeback. Both shots from the high slot deflected off defenseman Charlie MacAvoy in front.
