Vasilevskiy wins Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP

“It’s all about experience and how the team is playing in front of you,” he said before the Game 5 clincher. “The last two playoffs, we’ve been pretty consistent through all four rounds. When a team is playing like this in front of you, you just get a lot of confidence from them and you’re trying to help them as much as you can and just try to be at your best every night.”

Vasilevskiy most importantly was at his best when Tampa Bay needed him to be. He stopped 135 of 141 shots in games after a loss, including Wednesday night’s season finale.

He was a rock in Game 2 of the final, stopping 42 of 43 shots when the Montreal Canadiens tilted the ice toward him.

“Just the absolute competitive gamer that we know he is,” veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “Night in, night out (the) backbone of this team.”

That was Bishop’s role in 2015 before a torn groin derailed his Cup final. Vasilevskiy had started a total of 13 NHL games at that point and had the spotlight on him at age 20 on hockey’s biggest stage.

Coach Jon Cooper said Vasilevskiy had to learn quickly. That learning has put the Russian netminder squarely in the debate as the best in the world, a label that had often belonged to Montreal’s Carey Price.

“Torches get passed and I think Carey is still carrying the torch but it’s getting passed to guys like Vasy,” Cooper said. “It’s the mental makeup. Carey Price has a demeanor about him that it exudes confidence. And he has an ability to turn the page. He has an ability to play at big moments, and he’s grown into that.”

Tampa Bay wouldn’t have won a second consecutive championship without Vasilevskiy’s growth. His play this run made him playoff MVP over Nikita Kucherov, who again led the Lightning in scoring and joined Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only players with 30-plus points in consecutive postseasons.

Kucherov has seen and appreciated Vasilevskiy’s value for a decade.

“His compete level is as high as it can be,” Kucherov said. “I remember him when he was 16. He was always the guy that cares about the game and wants to be better and he wants to be No. 1. And, as we can see, he is.”

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Vasilevskiy wins Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP

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