The Tampa Bay Lightning made quick work of the Florida Panthers in the second round of the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, destroying the best team in the regular season in a four-game sweep. That shocking success of the Lightning was mainly due to the incredible netminding of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who reduced the Panthers' high-flying offense to mere dust.

Vasilevskiy was humble enough though to give his teammates plenty of credit, which only goes to show a major reason why the Lightning have won two Stanley Cup titles over the past couple of seasons.

Via Joe Smith of The Athletic:

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“The whole series was constant blocked shots, sacrifice, boys literally breaking bones to stop the puck,” Vasilevskiy said. “I’m just trying to do the best job I can. And the guys — you saw — all four games I thought we played fearless…

“Guys were literally trying to block shots with their faces and ankles and teeth.”

It really took a total team effort from Tampa Bay to take down the talented Panthers, but Vasilevskiy is undeniably the one that shone the brightest for the Lightning in that series. In four starts against the Panthers, Vasilevskiy gave up just three goals, turning away 151 of 154 shots for an incredible .981 SV%. Again, that Panthers team was the top-scoring squad in the regular season — the only one that scored at least four goals per outing.

Now, Vasilevskiy and the Lightning will have the luxury of some extra days of rest as they wait for the winner of the series between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes.