Copyright yardbarker
They’ve had the benefit of the whole team contributing, but the cornerstone pieces are such for a reason. Without them, the team isn’t going anywhere. It’s not a coincidence that they got going and the wins followed. 2: It Would Be Wise to Keep Spacing Out Vasilevskiy’s Starts Yes, he’s been playing a lot better. Yes, he needs the opportunities to shake the rust off from missing training camp. Both can be true, but they can also be beside the point. Another health scare has already been had. There is a very easy way to avoid it again. The Lightning gave Andrei Vasilevskiy solid rest early last season. The payoff was that he finished in second place in the Vezina Trophy voting. The more rest that the Lightning can give to their star goalie early on, the better. Contending for the Stanley Cup remains the goal, and he’s going to play every playoff game. Overplaying him early is only going to hinder it. Jonas Johansson is arguably looking the best he’s ever had between the pipes (.913 save percentage through three games). They should ride that for as long as they can. Will Success Translate When Eastern Conference Play Resumes? What does every opponent on the Lightning’s schedule from Oct. 23 to Nov. 8 have in common? They’re all Western Conference teams. They’re knocking out a massive chunk of that interconference slate early.
