Peter Budaj 'excited' to join Lightning

TAMPA -- Goalie Peter Budaj, who was acquired by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for goalie Ben Bishop on Sunday, said he has heard a lot of good things about his new team.
Budaj, 34, was 27-20-3 in 53 starts with the Kings. He leads the NHL with seven shutouts and has a .917 save percentage and 2.12 goals-against-average.

"I'm excited. This is a great organization," Budaj said on Monday after arriving at Amalie Arena. "The last two years, they've been on top. It's an organization that likes to win and I'm happy to be here."
Although Budaj's role with the Lightning has yet to be defined, he will likely serve as a backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is transitioning into the starting role with Bishop in Los Angeles.

"[Vasilevskiy] is a great young goalie with a lot of potential," Budaj said. "I'm just going to be myself and help him where I can. Hopefully I can do whatever I can to help him be the goalie that I know he can be."
Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said Budaj was an important part of the trade because he wanted an experienced goalie who could win games. The Lightning were seven points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference entering their game Monday against the Ottawa Senators (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV).
"We're still trying to make the playoffs, and that's why we brought in Peter Budaj to backup Andrei," Yzerman said. "We think that the tandem gives us a chance to win every night. Peter did that in L.A. when Jonathan [Quick] went down. So we're able to bring in a goaltender that can give us quality starts."