The Tampa Bay Lightning will have to navigate the next few games without their star netminder. According to Lightning insider Erik Erlendsson, Andrei Vasilevskiy is headed to injured reserve (IR). He will miss Monday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.
There are no details yet about the injury. The organization did not even note whether it concerns the upper or lower body. A player on IR must wait seven days from his last match before returning to the lineup. So Vasilevskiy’s next eligible game is Thursday in New Jersey against the Devils.
Vasilevskiy goes to IR
Vasilevskiy last played on Tuesday against the New York Islanders. Since then, backup goalie Jonas Johansson has been between the posts and played two games, one against the Pittsburgh Penguins and a rematch against the Islanders, both losses.
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Losing one of the league’s best goalkeepers to injury is a major blow. The Lightning were already without him through training camp and most of the preseason. Until last week, he was playing well, with a .926 save percentage (SV%) and an 11-4-1 record over his last 16 games.
Johansson is serviceable and familiar with filling in for Vasilevskiy. At the start of the 2023-2024 season, he was the starting goaltender while the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner was recovering from back surgery. This season he has an .896 SV% through 10 games, which is similar to the .893 SV% he has had since coming to Tampa Bay prior to the same season he filled in for Vasilevskiy.
It is believed that Johansson’s backup will be Brandon Halverson, who has already been recalled to the NHL roster. He has gone 9-4-0 this season with a .901 SV% through 13 games with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. He was in net once for the Lightning last season, saving 19 of 24 shots against the Utah Mammoth on March 22.
The Lightning had to play their most recent game without their star goalie or their star forward, Nikita Kucherov. He last played against the Penguins on Thursday. At the time of writing, there was no update on Kucherov’s status.
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