It appears that losing out on the Vezina trophy to Marc-Andre Fleury meant that Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning felt he had something to prove. According to his father, Andrei Vasilevskiy Sr., his son was not pleased with the snub and it gave him extra motivation in the Stanley Cup Final.
"I understood the human side of the issue: for Fleury, who was at one time the number one draft pick, this season was one of the last chances when he could take Vezina," said Vasilevskiy Sr.
"And this announcement added to Andrei's sports anger, motivation and desire to prove to those who voted for Fleury that they were wrong," Vasilevskiy Sr. added.
The elder Vasilevskiy says his son won game two "almost single-handedly". The game ended in a 3-1 victory for Tampa Bay, with Vasilevskiy stopping 42 of 43 shots, almost double the amount of Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens.
Vasilevskiy was a close second in voting for the Vezina Trophy, which is awarded to the best goalie in the regular season. Fleury received 108 points, while Vasilevskiy managed 99. You have to think that winning the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP and the Stanley Cup helped ease the sting of losing out on the Vezina Trophy. Vasilevskiy was the winner of the Vezina back in 2019.
