In his first game of the year, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves in a commanding 8-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night at PNC Arena.
The 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner has been sidelined since training camp after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lumbar region in late September. He returned to training with his teammates on November 13th
Visibly inspired by his compatriot’s return, Russian Nikita Kucherov collected two goals and four assists. Brayden Point had three hits and two assists.
The Bolts only shot at the Canes net 15 times. Antti Raanta, the inferior goaltender, had a save average of .467, allowing more goals than he saved.
Other scorers for Tampa Bay included Brandon Hagel, Steven Stamkos and Luke Glenndening.
Back to Vasilevskiy: The Lightning did well without his services, maintaining a record of 9-6-5, good for third place in the Atlantic Division, behind the Boston Bruins (14-2-3) and the Florida Panthers ( 12-7). -1).
Last year, the Russian posted a 34-22-4 record, a 2.65 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.