from John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times,

...The basic numbers say Vasilevskiy is not playing as well as last season. His goals-against average is up (2.40 to 2.78), and his save percentage is down (.925 to .910).

The more advanced stats are even worse. Goals Saved Above Average is a stat designed by hockey-reference.com to determine how a goaltender is faring relative to the league average. Last season, Vasilevskiy was second in the NHL. He is currently 30th.

This doesn’t necessarily mean his play has fallen off a cliff. The Lightning have been experimenting with different defensive strategies this season, and it’s still a bit of work in progress. In other words, it isn’t all Vasilevskiy’s fault.

“You can sit here and say, oh maybe there are some saves that Vasy might have wanted back in certain games," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “But a lot of those games you can’t say we entirely helped him out. I think when your team defense improves, your goaltending is going to improve as well."

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