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NHL All-Star Game: Vasilevskiy replaces Rask; Letang named Metro captain

NHL All-Star Game

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 7: Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 and Brayden Point #21 of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate the win against the Vancouver Canucks at Amalie Arena on January 7, 2020 in Tampa, Florida (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is having himself a pretty good Monday.

Along with being named the NHL’s first star of the week, he is also being added to the Atlantic Division All-Star team where he will replace Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask.

This will be the third consecutive season that Vasilevskiy will appear in the NHL All-Star Game.

In 33 appearances this season he has a 22-9-2 record to go with a .915 save percentage.

While his overall numbers are down a bit for the season, he has started to get on a roll in recent weeks and has been nearly unbeatable since the start of December. He has been one of the players driving Tampa Bay’s climb back up the standings -- including their recent 10-game winning streak -- as they once again start to look like a Stanley Cup contender and one of the league’s elite teams.

By removing himself from the game, Rask will have to sit out one Bruins game immediately before or after the All-Star break.

Kris Letang named captain of Metropolitan Division team

The other piece of All-Star Game news on Monday is that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang has been named captain of the Metropolitan Division team.

Alex Ovechkin had previously been captain of team, but decided to withdraw from the weekend festivities to rest and prepare himself for the second half of the regular season.

Letang was added to the game as a replacement for Pittsburgh teammate Jake Guentzel who is currently sidelined with a shoulder injury. This is Letang’s sixth All-Star game appearance. In 37 games so far this season he has 10 goals and 28 total points.

The NHL All-Star weekend will take place on January 24-25 in St. Louis.

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.