Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves after replacing injured starter Ben Bishop to help the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Consol Energy Center on Friday.
Bishop, who made nine saves, left on a stretcher with 7:35 remaining in the first period after his stick became tangled with Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist, who was attempting to drive behind the net. Bishop tried to follow the puck by twisting back to his left and appeared to injure his leg. The Lightning lead the best-of-7 series, 1-0. Game 2 is at Consol Energy Center on Monday.
Vasilevskiy, 21, earned his second career Stanley Cup Playoff win. His first came in Game 2 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, when he made five saves in relief of Bishop in a 4-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks. Friday was Vasilevskiy's sixth career playoff appearance. He has played once this postseason, when he made eight saves in a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round.
Alex Killorn scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead with 1:14 remaining in the first period. After defenseman Victor Hedman sent a breakout pass through the neutral zone, Killorn shrugged off defenseman Olli Maatta before driving toward Murray. Killorn went forehand to backhand and shot through rookie goalie Matt Murray's five-hole.
Ondrej Palat extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal 2:33 into the second period. With Evgeni Malkin in the penalty box for hooking, Valtteri Filppula took a slap shot off Murray's left pad; Palat dove towards the puck and backhanded it into the net.
Jonathan Drouin made it 3-0 for Tampa Bay when Palat set him up on a 3-on-1 against Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin. Palat's pass slipped through Dumoulin to Drouin, who one-timed a shot past Murray's glove with 1:11 remaining in the second. Murray, 21, made 17 saves and lost for the third time in 10 playoff starts. He was not surprised by Vasilevskiy's performance.
Hornqvist cut the Penguins' deficit to 3-1 with a power-play goal set up by a backhand pass Sidney Crosby sent between his legs. Hornqvist's shot went over Vasilevskiy's blocker with 54.6 seconds left in the second.
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left 2:50 into the game after being hit into the corner by Lightning forward Ryan Callahan but returned later in the period.
Dumoulin left the game after being pushed into the boards by Palat with 4:46 remaining in the third period and did not return. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not update Dumoulin's status, but said Letang was fine. Pittsburgh had 35 shots, but was held to one goal for the second time in three games.
Pens Quotes
Matt Murray: "He's obviously a great goalie. He was drafted the same year I was. He's a first-rounder and played in world juniors and he's a heck of a goalie. I don't think it was much of a drop off, losing Bishop. He's such a good goaltender."Steve Sullivan: "They defend hard. They block shots. They have people in the lanes. They have good support mechanism built in place when somebody gets beat. I thought we generated a fair amount of chances. We have to find a way to convert."
Bolts Quotes
Andrei Vasilevskiy: "In the first two periods, I didn't feel good. So I was cold and tough mentally, but when we scored three goals, I got some confidence and in the third period, I felt pretty good. I got some shots and just warmed up."Jon Cooper: "For someone as young as he is, He's already played in a Stanley Cup Final. He was called on in the biggest moments last year, and talk about pushing somebody down the learning curve a little faster than we wanted to … Nobody on the bench was thinking 'Oh, we're nervous. Vasilevskiy is going in.'"
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