It was announced today that Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will replace Carey Price at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in a few weeks. Price announced that he will not be attending a few days ago. However, Vasilevskiy will now join Lightning teammates Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov for the Atlantic division.
Andrei Vasilevskiy of the @TBLightning has been added to the Atlantic Division roster for the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game, replacing Carey Price. #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/yeOFFVOgIX
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 8, 2019
Andrei Vasilevskiy Lights Out
Andrei Vasilevskiy has been lights out this season. He has posted a 16-4-2 record. Along with that, he also has a 0.920 save percentage. Vasilevskiy is in his 5th NHL season. However, a few of those were as a backup behind former starter Ben Bishop. Vasilevskiy has since taken over the net in Tampa.
Vasilevskiy posts a career 0.918 save percentage, with 2.62 goals against average in 177 games. He will join Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard in net for Team Atlantic. The All-Star game is being held in San Jose on January 26th.
Carey Price Will Sit Out
Price has decided to sit and watch this all-star game from home. This wasn’t a big surprise when announced. Price has been battling multiple injuries this season. As well, it is very likely he wants to spend time with his family. He is the second player who announced he would not be going. Alexander Ovechkin also came out and said he would not be attending.
Both players will have to sit out one game for missing. The suspension will be either the game before or after the all-star game. The Canadiens play the Arizona Coyotes the game before, and the New Jersey Devils the game after. Both are teams doing worse than they wished this year. With goalies, it is not as big of a deal for a one-game suspension because the team can start their backup as they may anyway.
It is possible Price sits against the Coyotes who just saw yet another injury to forward Nick Schmaltz. The Coyotes have had a long list of those this year.
Main Photo:
