When NHL.com caught up with Vasilevskiy at the NHL North American Player Media Tour on Sept. 16, he made it clear that the Lightning's motivation to win the Stanley Cup again remains strong. The 28-year-old, who tied Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers for the NHL lead in wins last season (39-18-5), was ninth in GAA (2.49) and 12th in save percentage (.916) with two shutouts, discussed Tampa Bay's drive for more championships, how he controls his emotions, and more:
The Lightning overcame so much to get back to the Stanley Cup Final, including injuries, a 3-2 deficit against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and a 2-0 deficit against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final. Although the players were proud, did you also sense there was no sense of satisfaction?
"Yeah, yeah. Obviously, you don't want to just go to the Final and say, 'OK. That was our goal.' Obviously, you want to win the Cup as many times as possible because it's very hard. To win the Cup is hard, but to win a few times in a row, it's like impossible because every year the team is different. You have a few new guys, maybe a new coach or something else. That's why only a few teams were able to do it. But we have a new team this year, a few new names on the team and we'll do our best to get back to the Final and set the bar again."
So that drive to win the Cup again remains?
"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."
Cameras caught you coming off the ice after losing Game 6 to Colorado and you yelled something and appeared angry. Was that a heat-of-the-moment reaction?
"No, no. Because during the season, during the playoffs, I never show my emotions, but that Game 6, we lost, so it was like, 'Let it be. Let it happen.' During the playoffs, even during the season, you don't want to show your emotions to the other team so they can see you [and think], 'OK, he's shaken.' But it was the last game of the season, so I was like, 'Whatever. It's not going to make any difference.'"
How would you assess your play in the playoffs and the Cup Final in particular?
"Good enough to win, in my opinion. Our overtimes, it was tough. I think the previous playoffs, we went 0-4 (in overtime) and, overall, I think we scored only one goal in the last eight overtime games (beginning with Game 5 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars), which is not great. So [the Avalanche] won two games in overtime. It could've been us, but, unfortunately, we didn't get the job done and here you go. We have to be better at that too."