Tampa Bay Lighting place Andrei Vasilevskiy on IR

The Tampa Bay Lightning will have to carry on without their starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. The team announced on Monday, Vasilevskiy has been placed on the injured reserve, , and at this time, his injury is a complete mystery. 

The Russian netminder last played on Dec.2 against the New York Islanders when he allowed two goals. He's since been ruled day-to-day and then missed games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Islanders on Saturday, and will miss his third in a row against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena.

With the retroactive placement of Vasilevskiy on IR, he won't be eligible to return until Thursday, when the Lightning head to New Jersey to take on the Devils.

Jonas Johansson will get the call for the majority of the action while Vasilevskiy is out, and gets the nod as the starter against the Leafs on Monday. 

Jonas Johansson expected to start tonight for the Lightning with Vasilevskiy on IR. You want your back-up to give you a chance to win and Johansson has largely done that this season, allowing 3 or less in 7 of 9 starts. Has delivered a quality start (positive GSAE) in 8 of 9... pic.twitter.com/DKlU0n1R15

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) December 8, 2025

Vasilevskiy is once again one of the best goaltenders in the league. He's posted a 11-6-2 record, along with a 2.31 goals against average and .917 save percentage. Before he went off with his mystery injury, he had won six games in a row.

Keep an eye on the Lightning, they could look to the goalie trade market for some veteran help if things don't look better with Vasilevskiy later this week.

Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images