Vasilevskiy's second trip to the Stanley Cup Final ended better than the first one.

He earned a win in relief as a 21-year-old for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2015 Final, but the Chicago Blackhawks won the series in six games. Five years later, Vasilevskiy played every minute during the Lightning's 25 postseason games and made 22 saves in a 2-0 victory against the Dallas Stars in Game 6, wrapping up Tampa Bay's second championship since entering the NHL in 1992.

The title came one year after Vasilevskiy was voted winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie and helped the Lightning tie the League single-season record of 62 wins, only to become the first Presidents' Trophy winner to be swept in the first round.

That Vasilevskiy rose so fast through the ranks should not have been a big surprise. He was the first goalie selected in the 2012 NHL Draft, when Tampa Bay selected him with the No. 19 pick after he had already played for Russia three times at the IIHF World Under-18 championships.

Vasilevskiy proved to be a worthy choice when, as a 19-year-old playing in the Kontinental Hockey League, he had a 1.99 goals-against average in 18 playoff games. That was part of a 2013-14 season that saw him represent his country at the IIHF World Junior Championship, helping Russia to a third-place finish, and earn selection to the senior team for the IIHF World Championship, where he allowed one goal in his two starts and was part of Russia's first-place team.

He arrived at Lightning training camp in 2014 with plenty of hype. As a rookie, Vasilevskiy acclimated quickly while playing with Syracuse of the American Hockey League, being named goaltender of the month in December 2014. That month, he made his NHL debut in Philadelphia, making 23 saves in the Lightning's 3-1 victory against the Flyers on Dec. 16. Four nights later, Vasilevskiy made 45 saves in a 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders.

Midway through the season Vasilevskiy became the full-time backup behind Ben Bishop, and he had his first NHL shutout against the Buffalo Sabres on March 3, 2015.

Vasilevskiy made NHL history in 2015 when he got a victory in relief of Bishop in Game 2 of the Cup Final against the Blackhawks, becoming the first goalie to earn his first career postseason victory in relief in the Final since Lester Patrick with the New York Rangers in 1928.

By 2015-16, Vasilevskiy had usurped Bishop as the starter and quickly became one of the NHL's most reliable goalies. He tied for the League lead in victories (44) in 2017-18, won the Vezina Trophy in 2018-19 after going 39-10-4 in 53 games, earned his third straight trip to the NHL All-Star Game in 2020 and led the NHL with 35 wins in 2019-20, when he was a Vezina finalist.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• NHL First All-Star Team (2019)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (2018, 2019, 2020)