Vasilevskiy on Bolts' home struggles: 'What the f--- is this?'
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Andrei Vasilevskiy says he has a lot of thoughts about why the Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the Florida Panthers in five games, but not a lot of answers.
The Vezina Trophy-nominated goaltender spoke to reporters on Friday.
Vasilevskiy, 30, pointed to his team's play at home as a particular cause for concern. The Lightning lost all three home games in the series, including a 6-3 decider in Game 5.
"When you go out there, you start the series at home with six goals against...What's our home playoff record in the last like 10 games?" Vasilevskiy said (via Eduardo A. Encina of The Tampa Bay Times). "I think we've won just one or two? It's like, 'What the f--- is this?' I just feel bad for the fans. They deserve much better than this."
Beginning with a six-game loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning have won just two of their past 14 home playoff games. The team has been eliminated in the first round in three consecutive years - in 2023 by the Toronto Maple Leafs and by the Panthers in both 2024 and 2025.
Vasilevskiy believes the 6-2 loss in Game 1 was the catalyst for disaster.
"The thing went somewhat sideways right away for us in Game 1," the five-time All-Star said. "Great play by the and some bad luck on our side. I thought we did a much better job defensively the new few games, but it just didn't work for us."
The Tyumen, Russia native says he's still trying to make sense of the loss.
"I think the time will heal," Vasilevskiy said. "Expectations, but not delivered. I just have no answers for you, unfortunately, this time. Lots of thought, but I don't think there's any answers in those thoughts."
A Vezina winner in 2019, Vasilevskiy goes up against the Winnipeg Jets' Connor Hellebuyck and Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings for this year's award following a season where he went 38-20-5 with a goals against average of 2.18 and a .921 save percentage.