Well, that was quick.
It wasn’t quite a sweep, but the Carolina Hurricanes are out of the playoffs after just five games and have one players, above all, to blame for their early exit.
Yes, we’re talking about Andrei Vasilevskiy.
With an opportunity to clinch, the 26-year-old came up clutch with a 29-save shutout to stick a fork in the Central division’s first place Canes. Vas finished the series with some wild stats, stopping 142 of 152 shots for a .940 save percentage and a 1.80 save percentage. Carolina had no answers and with their season invisibly coming to an end, they let out some of their frustration on Twitter.
And we don’t blame them.
Don’t worry Hurricanes, you’re not the only ones! The Russian became the first goaltender in NHL history to clinch a series with three shutouts, so we may as well start calling this guy captain clutch.
Tampa is set to face the winner of the Bruins vs. Isles series, so we’ll have to see if Vas can give either of those teams the same kind of grief in the third round. He’s undoubtedly a favourite for the Conn Smythe at this point.
(H/T Canes)
