Jon Cooper says that the scouting report on Andrei Vasilevskiy is completely inaccurate
Jon Cooper is a head coach who has enjoyed an extremely successful run that has spanned over 8 seasons. He has made the Stanley Cup Finals in 4 of those years, won twice, lost in the Conference Finals twice, dropped in the first round twice, but also missed the playoffs in 2016-17 by one point - final wild card spot was occupied by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This spring things have sort of flipped on the confident head coach as the Maple Leafs have churned out 3 consecutive wins, including a 3-goal comeback in the third period in Game 4. After earning a blowout victory in Game 1, the Lightning have been caught flat footed with shoddy defending and goaltending at the most inopportune times.
One scouting report from an ex-Lightning assistant coach, now current Red Wings head coach, Derek Lalonde, has highlighted one inefficiency in Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy's game - his penchant for allowing shots from out high.
During the intermissions, Lalonde has been invited as a guest on Sportsnet to display his hockey knowledge for the entire viewing population. His insight and analysis hasn't been lost on Cooper, but his former boss is not exactly sold on his Vasilevskiy theory either:
"He's there because he was an assistant coach on this team. So he's trying to offer insight and trying to give fans something and he should be doing that. He's just got to make sure it's accurate"
Vasilevskiy has been a machine since 2018, playing in 85 consecutive playoff games, played in 25, 23, and 23 in three consecutive years, compiled a record of 48-23, and a save percentage no lower than .922 in either of those years.
He struggled last year against the Leafs before posting ridiculous splits in the other two series' leading to the Finals. This year is no different as he sports a .856 SV%, 4.33 G.A.A and his body language looks like he is exhausted. He isn't making the big saves, hardly the same clutch goaltender he was in previous years, and is being beaten in the same way over and over again.
Lalonde has offered correct insight and analysis, unfortunately his former bench boss disagrees. Maybe he should look back on some of his tapes because unless Vasilevskiy turns back the clock in the next game, their season is most likely going to end sooner than they expected.
