RALEIGH, N.C. — Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will return from back surgery and start Friday night’s game at the Carolina Hurricanes.
Coach Jon Cooper announced the decision following the team’s morning skate.
“He hasn’t played an NHL game since April so I know he is eager,” Cooper said. “There is a ton of work (that) has gone in to get him to this spot. He has worked his tail off and this was the date circled on the calendar months ago and we hit the target date.”
Vasilevskiy missed 20 games after undergoing a microdiscectomy to address a lumbar disk herniation two months ago.
The two-time Stanley Cup-winning Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy in 2019 as the league’s top goalie and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2021 as playoff MVP.
"[We are] excited to have the best goaltender in the world back, but it's been a while since he played a game so we got to do our best to help him out," Victor Hedman said in an interview. "Obviously having Vasy back is a big boost for all of us..."
Vasilevskiy first experienced a problem with his back in August and received an injection.
Treatment and a second injection failed to resolve the problem after Vasilevskiy experienced the issue again when he practiced for the first time in training camp.
"There has been a lot of buzz within the team about Andrei Vasilevskiy's return to the ice, but there is also an understanding that Vasy is not going to come in and save the day," 10 Tampa Bay Sports Director Evan Closky explained. "Entering Friday, only the San Jose Sharks have given up more goals this year than the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"The defense has gotten better from Game 1 to Game 20, but if they don't continue to work hard in front of the netminder, it won't matter who is between the pipes."
According to Closky, while Jonas Johansson did a formidable job starting 17 of 20 games in Vasilevskiy's absence, "he is no Vasy."
"With Tampa Bay's prolific scoring, if the Bolts can get a little more production in net, I would predict the points will start adding up for this squad," he said.
Johansson filled in as the starter and has an 8-4-5 record.
"At the end of the day, JJ did a hell of a job," Brandon Hagel said in an interview. "To put us in a playoff spot, it was a tough situation for him obviously coming [in new to the] team, not a ton of experience, but the way he played was incredible. He helped this team so much.
"But obviously with Vasy back, there's excitement but at the same time, we got to up our level as well."
The Lightning also announced goaltender Matt Tomkins was assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.
Tomkins was signed by the Bolts as a free agent back in May. He played three games with Tampa Bay this season, posting a 1-2-0 record and a .889 save percentage.
He was first drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2012.
