Tampa Bay got goals from Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin to build a 3-0 lead in the second period of Game 1 and then relied on Vasilevskiy to do the rest, as he outplayed Pittsburgh rookie goalie Matt Murray.
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At about 12 minutes into the Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Bishop was in the midst of trying to make a save and ended the sequence by laying on the ice writhing in pain.
Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning also issued a statement, which helped cool the furor. “That’s what I was thinking”, Bishop said in his first comments to reporters since he was stretchered out of Game 1.
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s 3-1 victory over the Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final in Pittsburgh on Friday night may have come at a heavy price.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 of 26 shots against in relief on Friday and will serve as the main netminder until Bishop is ready.
“It was never about, ‘Oh my gosh, this game’s in doubt.’ I think that’s a big reason why we pushed forward where we are right now”.
“It was one of the scariest things that has happened to me”, Bishop said. After the game, head coach Jon Cooper said that x-rays on Bishop came back negative and that the team is hoping for the best.
Almost a year later Vasilevskiy finds himself in a similar spot. He hardly appeared overcome by the stage.
It’s probably best that the National Hockey League doesn’t schedule any more games on Friday the 13th. “I was cold and tough mentally but when we scored three goals”. “We apologize to those within the Lightning fan base who are offended and angered by our recent promotion with the Pittsburgh Penguins”. “So he got to get a feel for the game and what was going on and not have to be bombarded with shots”.
Whether the kids will remain in net for Game 2 remains to be seen.
Facing just their second three-goal deficit of the playoffs, Pittsburgh drew within two on Patric Hornqvist’s power-play goal with just 55 seconds left in the second, a shot from the right circle set up by a pretty between-the-legs flick by Sidney Crosby.
The Penguins had early injury concerns of their own. First thing I thought, I thought I broke my leg.
What a difference a night’s sleep in the Steel City made to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s lineup prospects. Pressed on if Callahan deserved supplemental discipline outside of the five-minute major he received for nudging a vulnerable Letang into harm’s way, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan offered only “the NHL’s going to do their job, we’re going to do ours”.
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Following practice, Cooper said Stralman has been upgraded to day-to-day. “That’s not the way I play”.
