There was some confusion as to who would be in net for the Tampa Bay Lightning prior to the start of their game against the Minnesota Wild. The former Vezina winner took part in the warm-ups, but just prior to the start of the game, it was announced that Brian Elliott would be the starter.
It took a little while, but the Lightning finally confirmed that Vasilevskiy was a last-minute scratch due to an illness. Elliott, who stopped 25 of 26 shot against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday got the nod in net. It’s been awhile since Elliott started back-to-back games – just over five years to be exact. In 2017, as a Philadelphia Flyer, he started against Florida on December 28th and the Lightning on December 29th. He lost to the Panthers (3-2), but beat the Lightning (5-3). In both games he stopped 24 of 27 shots.
Vlad Namestnikov and Zach Bogosian were also scratched as Coach Jon Cooper went with an 11/7 line-up.
Can confirm Brian Elliott will start for the #Bolts tonight. Bogosian and Namestnikov scratched as TB goes with 11F/7D.
Lines:
Hagel-Point-Kucherov
Cirelli-Stamkos-Killorn
Colton-Paul-Maroon
Bellemare-PerryHedman-Foote
Sergachev-Perbix
Cole-Cernak
Fleury— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) January 5, 2023
