With Ben Bishop out for an undisclosed injury, 20-year-old rookie goaltender Andrei Vasilesvkiy was thrown into action to start Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vasilesvkiy became the sixth goaltender in NHL history to make his first career playoff start in the Stanley Cup Final. He was also the fourth-youngest goaltender to start a Stanley Cup Final game.
Vasilesvkiy came in for Bishop twice during the 3rd period of Game 2, making 5 saves in 9:13 min., earning the win. He is the first goalie in 24 years to earn a Stanley Cup Final win in relief since Pittsburgh’s Frank Pietrangelo on May 23, 1991. Bishop, who started Game 3 despite obvious distress, was at yesterday’s morning skate. So it was quite a shock when Vasilesvkiy hit the ice in pre-game practice. It is unclear when the decision was made to replace Bishop with Vasilesvkiy for last night’s game.
Many people took to social media with frayed nerves when they saw Vasilesvkiy take the ice, most of them unaware that Vasi has played 3 world juniors, winning a silver medal in 2012. He won a gold medal last year at the 2014 IIHF World Championships, where he posted a 2-0-0 record to go along with a 0.50 goals-against average and .985 save percentage. He also plays hockey in Canada in the off-season. We’ve had plenty of chances to see the building of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn this postseason. They're the guys carrying the offense and making big play after big play; fair enough. Who we haven’t been exposed to is also the one who hasn’t had the chance to make a name for himself this postseason — Vasilesvkiy. He was drafted by the Lightning in the first round, 19th overall, at the 2012 NHL Draft. In the 2014-2015 season, Vasilesvkiy made his NHL debut with Tampa Bay on December 16th in a game against the Flyers, stopping 23 of 24 shots in a 3-1 win. He appeared in 16 regular-season games for the Lightning and was 7-5-1 with one shutout, posting a 2.36 goals against and .918 save percentage. He made his playoff debut in relief of Ben Bishop in a 6-2 loss to the Canadiens in the second round, allowing three goals on 26 shots in 35 minutes of action. The young net-minder has a lot more experience than you think.
Outside of Vasilesvkiy, Ryan Callhan has been one of the best on the ice (for Cooper) in the past few games. He’s earned 4 points over the last two games, bringing his total points to 23. Add that to his 2 playoff goals, 6 assists, one appendectomy and Callahan has been a key player. The Hawks certainly don't have a Callahan on their roster.
Chicago’s Oduya injury was another shake in Chicago's armor. In Game 3, Oduya suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury in the 2nd period, departing to the locker room. He came back on the ice during the 3rd, but was using one hand on his stick and appeared to be very labored; however, in Game 4, he blocked five shots and finished with a plus-1 rating.
A scoreless first period led to a quick goal in the 2nd by Chicago’s Jonathan Toews. Tampa Bay answered back quickly when Killorn scored to tie up the game. For Killorn it was his second goal of the playoffs.
The 3rd period was tight and intense. The test continued for Vasilesvkiy, Stamkos received a delay of game penalty, and Chicago, a team that tends to get better as the pressure increases, did just that. As the Lightning continued to pressure the Hawk’s defense, Saad broke up the tie, ultimately tying up the series. The Blackhawks are 40-14 in games 4-7.
The Lightning had some great chances to score at the end of the game, but Crawford managed to stay tall. This was the third game of four to be decided by one goal.
Game 5 will be played in Tampa at Amalie Arena. The puck drops at 8PM ET.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2015.