PITTSBURGH – Four years have not even passed since Matt Murray and Andrei Vasilevskiy came to Consol Energy Center to learn about their NHL futures at the entry draft.
Who could have imagined they’d be standing across from one another in the same building now?
It had been nearly three decades since 21-year-old goaltenders faced each other in a Stanley Cup playoff game, dating back to Patrick Roy and Bill Ranford in the 1987 Habs-Bruins series.
The prospect of Murray and Vasilevskiy shouldering their team’s hopes in the Eastern Conference final would have ranked as a longshot as recently as February. Remember that this is a season where both posted victories over the Binghamton Senators, Springfield Falcons and Toronto Marlies.
Yet, here we are.
“I’ve only been in the league three years and I’ve watched just the age of the entire league go down,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper observed Saturday. “It’s really kind of turned into a young man’s league.”
The future may in fact be now for both Tampa and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have been carried by Murray since Marc-Andre Fleury suffered his second concussion of the season on March 31.
Vasilevskiy was unexpectedly thrust into the crease when Ben Bishop got stretchered off after falling awkwardly on his left leg during Friday’s game. The prognosis on the Vezina Trophy finalist was surprisingly positive – “much better news than the scene we saw,” said Cooper – but the Lightning seem comfortable using Vasilevskiy as long as Bishop isn’t at 100 per cent.
It’s remarkably similar to the situation unfolding with the Penguins, where Murray has continued to play even after Fleury regained health.
There has been a clamouring in Pittsburgh to see Fleury return to the crease. It’s a rather curious notion given Murray’s .929 save percentage and 7-3 record during these playoffs, not to mention the nearly seven weeks Fleury has gone since last playing.
“The intensity level, the reads, it’s very difficult to simulate that in practice,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “It’s an imperfect situation. We’re trying to make the best decisions we can, given the scenario.”
If we’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s that experience at the goaltending position isn’t necessarily required for playoff success. Bishop made his post-season debut last spring and carried the Lightning within two wins of the Stanley Cup.
When the Western Conference final gets going on Sunday night, both the San Jose Sharks (Martin Jones) and St. Louis Blues (Brian Elliott) will be employing goalies that have never previously reached this stage of the playoffs.
And here in Pittsburgh, we watched guys that were drafted 64 spots apart from each other in 2012 do battled during Friday’s 3-1 Lightning victory.
The opportunity is rather significant for both the present and future. Not only are they competing for a championship with fewer than 50 games of NHL experience on their respective resumes, but they’re also trying to instill confidence in organizations that view them as the eventual No. 1 man.
Perhaps sooner rather than later.
Even though Murray took the Game 1 loss after facing just 20 shots, it was hard to pin the result on him. His teammates were unusually casual with the puck, turning it over repeatedly to give Tampa odd-man rushes.
“The goals that were scored were high-quality chances,” said Sullivan. “Very difficult saves. So I don’t think it’s an instance where Matt had a sub-par performance.”
Vasilevskiy finished with 25 saves and picked up his second career playoff victory in relief of Bishop. He also came in during the Game 2 of last year’s Stanley Cup final against the Chicago Blackhawks and held the fort.
Despite the earlier experience, he felt some nerves after seeing Bishop go down on Friday and getting tapped on the shoulder.
“You know, the game against Chicago was one year ago,” said Vasilevskiy. “It’s tough to get something from a game (like that).”
Bishop was the MVP of a rather turbulent Lightning season, constantly steadying the ship through injuries and a slow start. But it’s pretty telling that there wasn’t any sense of panic at the proposition of having to press his understudy into action on this stage.
Cooper is fond of referring to his goaltenders as “1A and 1B,” and until we hear otherwise the crease now belongs to 1B.
Asked following Game 1 if he can handle the assignment, Vasilevskiy smiled and said: “That’s why I’m here.”
Kids these days.
