Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy Is the Best Goalie in the League and the Numbers Prove It

The debate about who the best goalie this season is doesn't require much debate. Andrei Vasilevskiy has answered it with every start, every clutch save, and every number that keeps climbing higher.

The Lightning netminder has been the most dominant force between the pipes this season, and the evidence is overwhelming.Among the 47 goalies who have played at least 25 games this season, he is the only one ranking in the top five in wins, goals-against average, and save percentage simultaneously. That kind of across-the-board excellence doesn't happen by accident. It happens when a player is operating at the very peak of his powers.

The Run That Changed Everything for Andrei Vasilevskiy

The defining stretch of Andrei Vasilevskiy's season came between December 20th and February 25th. Over 18 games, he went 17-0-1 with a 1.90 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. Tampa Bay went 20-1-1 during that run, erasing a two-point deficit to the Red Wings and turning it into an eight-point lead atop the Atlantic Division.Teammates have taken notice of just how locked in he has been all season. Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh didn't mince words when describing what Vasilevskiy means to this team.

"He's been the backbone for this team this year," Raddysh said. "He does it all, and I think he's the best goalie in the world." The confidence that comes from having a goalie of his caliber behind you changes how an entire team operates, Raddysh added. "Having him back there gives us a lot of confidence to be aggressive and try to play the way we want to play and just know that he's going to be there to stop pucks."Vasilevskiy has already moved into 24th in NHL history with 360 career wins, passing both Nikolai Khabibulin and Evgeni Nabokov to sit second among Russia-born goalies behind only Sergei Bobrovsky. If he wins the Vezina this spring, he will become just the third non-North American-born goalie to win it multiple times, joining Bobrovsky and Dominik Hasek. A second Vezina would also cement something that his teammate J.J. Moser summed up as simply as anyone could."He's just outstanding," Moser said. "He's the best in the league, and the things he does where he can get us out of certain situations where we break down a little bit are just phenomenal." At 31 years old, playing the best hockey of his life, Andrei Vasilevskiy isn't slowing down. He's accelerating.