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Ben Bishop down, so who is Andrei Vasilevskiy? |
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Watching a goaltender leave the ice on a stretcher might send shock waves through a hockey team. When that goaltender happens to be a Vezina Trophy finalist, those shock waves may reverberate over and over.
Seeing Ben Bishop leave the ice early in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals had that feel. He's been so good all season, a viable MVP candidate that helped carry Tampa Bay through some early season inconsistencies.
In a word, Bishop has been sensational.
But here's the thing with the Lightning and their goaltending situation - they have one of the top prospects in the game serving as Bishop's backup in Andrei Vasilevskiy.
So if Tampa Bay has to turn to Vasilevskiy, depending on the severity of the injury to Bishop, there is a certain sense of confidence in the 21-year-old Russian goaltender to step in perform.
"Whenever you have a goalie that can come in, a backup that you have a
lot of confidence in, it helps the team for sure,'' said Alex Killorn, who opened the scoring for Tampa Bay in a 3-1 series opening victory. " I think he's one of the hardest workers on our team, a guy that comes in every day and works hard.''
He certainly showed that, stepping in cold early on Friday only to turn aside 25-of-26 shots he faced in relief, including all 16 he faced in the third period to pick up the victory. Vasilevskiy became the first goaltender since Olie Kolzig (1995 and 1996) to have both of their first two playoff victories come in relief. Vasilevskiy also came in relief of Bishop in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final last year to earn the victory.
It really shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Vasilevskiy was the first goaltender selected in the 2012 draft, selected 19th overall by Tampa Bay. He's been projected as a potential superstar in the making since being drafted. As a 19-year-old, playing in the Kontinental Hockey League, Vasilevskiy led Ufa to the league semifinals before being bounced from the playoffs. That same year he made the roster for Russia at the World Championships.
Vasilevskiy, who was named to the Russian roster for the World Cup of Hockey, is now in his second year in North America. While he his ascension to the NHL came a bit quicker than planned after Evgeni Nabokov did not work out, robbing the young goaltender of some valuable playing time in the American Hockey League.
"Talk about pushing somebody a little bit down the learning curve a little faster than we wanted to,'' Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said after Game 1. "But there's cliches thrown around all the time, guys who are first in the rink and last to leave and all those types of things, but with that kid, it's actually true. If there's one thing that Vasilevskiy will never be knocked for, it's for preparation and work ethic. That's in his DNA.''
That's a big reason his growth hasn't been stunted to this point. He was sidelined by a blood clot situation before training camp - the same situation that has Lightning captain Steven Stamkos sidelined in the playoffs - before he returned to the ice in late October. Then during the season he was shuttled up and down between the NHL and AHL for the middle part of the season to ensure he was getting playing time helped Vasilevskiy stay sharp.
So when Bishop went down in the early stages of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, it was like replacing the No. 1 goalie with a 1A.
"You never want to lose Bishop, but nobody on the bench was sitting there thinking, oh, we're nervous Vasilevskiy's going in,'' Cooper said. We've kind of run with this tandem all year, and he's a rock, and he was that for us tonight.''
If Bishop is going to miss any time - Cooper said x-rays showed no structural damage in Bishop's left leg - the Lightning are going to need Vasilevskiy to be more solid than the rock he was on Friday.
Tampa Bay Lightning Blogger • 
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