Andrei Vasilevskiy opens up on how it feels to lose the Stanley Cup
Andrei Vasilevskiy has had to swallow a bitter pill after losing the Stanley Cup Finals to the Colorado Avalanche, the Tampa Bay Lightning were set for a three-peat until Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche proved to be the Lightning's kryptonite.
Vasilevskiy didn't spend any time lamenting the Lightning's loss during the off-season, as he mentioned it just gave him a reason to focus on winning more.
"For sure. When you win a few Cups in a row, deep inside you kind of comfort yourself. Basically, you've done everything you wanted in this league, but last season's Final, it was some kind of a cold shower for our team. Now there's a new team that set the bar and we have to raise that bar and set it again. So, as I said, motivation will be high this season."
Vasilevskiy and the Lightning held the Avalanche to 6 games in the 2022 Finals, and at the end of the game, Vasilevskiy would let emotions take over and showed it on live tv.
His reasoning was since, that game was the end of the series, it really didn't matter but the Lightning hated to lose.
For a dynasty that never was, and a finally foiled Patrick Maroon dynasty, it sounds like the Lightning will come back this season, with a fresh outlook and ready to compete again.
The question is how will they rebound after losing, Ryan McDonagh, Ondrej Palat, and Jan Rutta in the off-season, all players key in past cup victories.
POLL |
Will the Lightning make the Cup Finals this year? |
Yes, they will | 27 | 18.1 % |
No, the streak ends this year | 122 | 81.9 % |
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