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Andrei Vasilevskiy's weakness has just been revealed and it's worrying

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MarcO
April 26, 2023  (3:59 PM)
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The emotional series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning is an exciting matchup. On one hand, Toronto is looking to prove that they can finally make it past the first round of the playoffs, while on the other hand, the Bolts want to show that they are still a contender.

While the officials have been at the center of discussions since the beginning of this series, the mental game between the two teams has also been a hot topic. Recently, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe openly mentioned that he found a weakness in Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Indeed, not only did Keefe reveal this weakness publicly to play on the psychology of opposing players, including the excellent Russian goalie, but he also specifically named this vulnerability. According to Keefe, Vasilevskiy is particularly vulnerable to shots from distance when there is traffic in front of him.

Indeed, it seems that this information is well known within the Lightning team. During intermission of the last game between the two teams, Derek Lalonde, former Tampa Bay assistant coach and current head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, confirmed this.

"We did extensive research on shooting from the blue line and Vasilevskiy is one of the least effective goalies. So we completely changed our defensive coverage strategy" - Derek Lalonde

This statement is certainly concerning for Lightning players and fans.

It's clear that the loss of Ryan McDonagh last offseason and Victor Hedman during the current series has had a significant impact on the goaltending. Not having those behemoths in front of him to clear the view for nearly 30 minutes a game is certainly destabilizing for Vasilevskiy.

Indeed, it will be interesting to see if the Maple Leafs can take advantage of this knowledge on Thursday night in Game 5 of the series, when they lead 3-1. However, it should be remembered that the Leafs have struggled in the past to maintain their lead in these situations, as seen in their series against the CH in 2021.

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Andrei Vasilevskiy's weakness has just been revealed and it's worrying

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