TAMPA -- Andrei Vasilevskiy felt like he was being watched.
And with good reason.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning goalie preparing to play in the spectacle that will be the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS), the 31-year-old goalie recalled his childhood days playing outdoors with his older brother Alexei in Russia.
The rink in question was just a slap shot away from the building the family lived in, and young Andrei could often feel a set of eyes staring down at him from their apartment on the eighth floor.
There, holding a cigarette, looking down at her boys, was their mother Ludmila, a figure skating coach at the time.
“It was very convenient,” he said, grinning ear to ear.
He then replicated the gesture of his parent smoking.
“She was like, with a dart, saying to us, 'You’re good? Don’t kill anyone and don’t get killed,'” he laughed.
Words to live by.
All these years later, Vasilevskiy still chuckles at the memory. It’s one that ignites the pure joy of playing in the elements, something he’ll be doing again Sunday.
Only this time, he’ll be doing it in front of 65,000 people, not just dear old Mom.
“Me and my brother always were outside and spending time after school, just, you know, playing hockey and having fun,” he said.
A feeling he hopes to replicate against the Bruins.
Tampa Bay is on a 16-1-1 run, one that started with a 6-4 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 20. Making the streak more impressive is the Lightning have done it without injured captain Victor Hedman, who had elbow surgery but is expected to be back in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 9.
“Our young guys have brought us a lot of energy, a lot of consistency,” Vasilevskiy said.
Much like Vasilevskiy has.
Indeed, part of Tampa Bay’s success should be attributed to Vasilevskiy, who is a leading candidate for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie. He is 24-7-3 with a 2.04 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in 34 games this season. This will be the second NHL outdoor game of his career; he made 26 saves in a 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators in the 2022 Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium in Nashville on Feb. 26, 2022.
On Sunday, he’ll have the chance to perform on a similar grand stage, this time in front of the home fans.
“To be honest, I was kind of really surprised when I heard at the beginning of the season that they would do something like this,” he said when asked about the concept of an NHL outdoor hockey game in Florida. “But it seems to be working so far. And [Sunday] it should be pretty cold, so that’s good for the ice quality.”
To that end, Vasilevskiy was impressed with the ice during the Lightning’s practice Saturday in the enclosed structure the NHL built over the rink to protect it from the elements. Workers began removing it later in the day, getting it set for the big game.
