Dein erstes Forum » Perhaps most importantly for Boston

Jon Cooper didn’t blame Andrei Vasilevskiy for the Tampa Bay Lightning digging a deep hole early in the Eastern Conference final.Two games and two losses brought plenty of criticism of the young Russian goaltender. Cooper wasn’t thrilled about that.”The questions were coming from the other side of the table Vancouver Canucks T-Shirts Authentic , and I felt it was the questioning of Vasilevskiy,” the Tampa Bay coach said. ”We don’t. He’s been the guy for us.”Vasilevskiy is the guy who turned the series around for the Lightning, who now lead the Capitals 3-2 and can eliminate Washington on the road in Game 6 on Monday night and move on to the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. After a 6.00 goals-against average and .839 save percentage in Games 1 and 2, he has a 2.00 GAA and .943 save percentage since as the series’ biggest difference-maker.”Just tried to stay positive and play my game,” Vasilevskiy said last week. ”It’s very important, especially in the playoffs. Good or bad game, doesn’t matter. Turn the page, start over again and again. That’s how you get success.”Vasilevskiy has found plenty of success this season, his first as a full-time NHL starter. The 23-year-old is a Vezina Trophy finalist after leading the league with 44 wins and eight shutouts.But Vasilevskiy hasn’t made it easy on himself. He rarely does.Cooper saw it during the 2016-17 season when Vasilevskiy struggled during a stretch of 10 consecutive starts when Ben Bishop was hurt and then again late this season when a swoon by him and the entire team almost cost Tampa Bay the East’s top seed. Vasilevskiy bounced back strong each time.”His ability to be able to turn the page now and understand, `You know what there might be a tough night for you, but I’m going to go out the next night anyway and I’ve got to be there for my team,’ – I think that’s where his growth process has really come in,” Cooper said.The same happened between Games 2 and 3 in this series. The shy Vasilevskiy who has been reluctant to do interviews told a pool reporter he didn’t make any adjustments from his worst games against the Capitals to his best.Somehow, he has looked like an entirely different goalie. Chants of ”Vasy! Vasy!” filled Amalie Arena in Game 5 on Saturday night when he stopped 28 of 30 shots, and the highest praise was reserved for inside the Lightning’s locker room.”He’s a world class goaltender Vancouver Canucks Hoodies Authentic , that’s what he does,” defenseman Braydon Coburn said. ”He battles hard every day in practice all season long, and he’s raised his game in the playoffs here.”No doubt his teammates have improved their play in front of Vasilevskiy, with defenseman Anton Stralman saying: ”We always feel like we owe him.” But against a star-studded Capitals team led by countrymen Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vasilevskiy had to raise his game to give Tampa Bay any chance.Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said confidence in Vasilevskiy never wavered, and he has showed them on the ice evidence of what they’ve seen all season.”He just expects a lot,” Stamkos said. ”You see his work ethic every day in practice. You guys don’t get to see what goes on in the room, but his mental preparation, his physical preparation, he wants to be the best all the time. He doesn’t want to give up a goal at all, including in practice. That’s the mentality he has and that’s why he’s so good.”If the Capitals can crack Vasilevskiy like they did the first two times, there will be a Game 7 on Wednesday night at Tampa Bay. But they’d better figure that out and get an even better game from Braden Holtby because the Lightning are 11-0 in the playoffs when scoring three-plus goals.That record is thanks to Vasilevskiy, who doesn’t like cameras but loves playoff hockey.”It’s definitely a fun time,” he said. ”Lot of emotions. Different hockey. It’s pretty fun to play. Just excitement level is pretty high. A different season.”—AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall in Tampa, Florida Vancouver Canucks Hats Authentic , contributed to this report.— The Boston Bruins bolstered their chances of contending for the Stanley Cup with a bold move, acquiring Rick Nash from the New York Rangers a day before the NHL trade deadline.”Our players have made a push and I wanted to inch that along if we could and reward it in a way,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said.Boston added the veteran – one of the best available – in a market filled with players in the last season of their contracts and put him in the lineup Sunday night against the Buffalo Sabres.The 33-year-old Nash had 18 goals and 10 assists this season with the Rangers and his first point with the Bruins will be No. 800 in his career. Perhaps most importantly for Boston, the 6-foot-4, 211-pound winger adds much-needed size up front and makes its second line even more formidable.”I think it sends a message that management feels that we’re a real good hockey team and he’s going to make us better,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. ”Where that leads, you can only speculate, and I don’t want to go there now because it’s not even March.”NHL teams, both buyers and sellers, have until 3 p.m. EST Monday to make a deal.Teams toward the top of the standings, or on the bubble, may add a veteran with an expiring contract in exchange for prospects and picks. Franchises out of the playoff race are hoping to get anything they can to potentially help their future in exchange for players they may not re-sign in the summer.”The standings dictate who the buyers and sellers are at the trade deadline,” said Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, whose team will probably miss the playoffs for a second straight year.The Rangers, without a doubt Custom Vancouver Canucks Jerseys , are rebuilding. They’re in eighth, and last, place in the Metropolitan Division with slim chances of extending their postseason streak to eight years.Nash didn’t fit into New York’s future plans as he played out the final season of an eight-year deal for $62.4 million he signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. And, the franchise got a return for its asset instead of letting him go for nothing as an unrestricted free agent in July.The Rangers received Boston’s first-round pick this year along with forwards Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey, defenseman Ryan Lindgren and a seventh-round pick next year.Like Boston, Toronto has a comfortable cushion to earn one of the Atlantic Division’s three guaranteed spots in the playoffs and they’re not satisfied with that.The Maple Leafs added 35-year-old Tomas Plekanec and prospect Kyle Baun from Montreal in a multiplayer deal. Plekaneck has six goals and 24 points this season with the Canadiens and 605 points in his career, which was spent entirely with them.The Canadiens, on the verge of missing the postseason for the second time in three years, gave up a Czech forward for a second-round pick this year along with prospects Rinat Valiev and Kerby Rychel.”It’s 15 years of my life” Plekanec said. ”It’s my home. My kids go to school here. Their first language basically is French, but now I’m going to Toronto and there’s going to be playoff hockey and having a chance to play for the Stanley Cup.”After advancing to the Stanley Cup last year, the Nashville Predators were busy the day before the NHL trade deadline.The defending Western Conference champion Predators acquired Brandon Bollig and Troy Grosenick from San Jose for a sixth-round pick this year. They also traded forward Pontus Aberg to Edmonton for forward Mark Letestu and then dealt him to Columbus for a fourth-round pick.—