The National Hockey League announced that Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had been added to the Atlantic Division roster for the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game in San Jose. Vasilevskiy will replace Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price.
Yesterday the Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced that Price had been battling a “nagging injury”. The Canadiens’ medical staff and management thought it would be best for Price to skip the event to rest and recuperate to make sure that he will be healthy for the second half of the season.
Price is the second player to skip the All-Star Game along with Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin. Both of them are required to serve a one-game suspension according to NHL rules. The suspension can be served the game before or after the All-Star break.
Vasilevskiy will join his teammates Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos for the All-Star festivities. The Lightning are on pace to win the Presidents Trophy (NHL team with the best regular season record) with 66 points.
Vasilevskiy registered a 16-4-2 record with a .920 save percentage and 2.60 goals against average. He has also won six of his last seven games. He was also the finalist for the 2018 Vezina Trophy. This will be his second consecutive All-Star game.
NHL All-Star Weekend will be hosted by the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center. The 2019 SAP NHL All-Star Skills will be on Friday, Jan. 25 (6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET, on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS) and the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game will be on Saturday, Jan. 26 (5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET, on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
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