TAMPA, Fla. — Andrei Vasilevskiy had no warning before Ben Bishop skated to the Tampa Bay bench and went up the tunnel. Just like that, a 20-year-old rookie was playing goalie for the Lightning in the third period of a Stanley Cup Finals game.
Vasilevskiy barely had time to feel any nerves before the Lightning scored. Bishop returned — and then left again, apparently struggling with an undisclosed injury.
But with his Tampa Bay teammates playing ferociously in front of him, Vasilevskiy had nothing to fear as the Lightning tied the series.
Jason Garrison scored the tie-breaking power-play goal with 11:11 to play, Vasilevskiy made five saves in a strange 9:13 of relief work, and the Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in Game 2 on Saturday night to even the series 1-1.