Report: Ben Bishop leaves Game 2 under bizarre circumstances.

Report: Ben Bishop leaves Game 2 under bizarre circumstances.

In a bizarre turn of events, it was Lightning rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy who earned his first career Stanley Cup Final victory on Saturday and not starter Ben Bishop. Vasilevskiy relieved Bishop twice in the third period as theTampa Bay Lightning star

HockeyFeed

HockeyFeed

In a bizarre turn of events, it was Lightning rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy who earned his first career Stanley Cup Final victory on Saturday and not starter Ben Bishop. Vasilevskiy relieved Bishop twice in the third period as theTampa Bay Lightning starter was forced from the crease for undisclosed reasons versus the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2. We have seen strange goalie exits before but this one seemed a bit different. Jon Cooper did not offer an explanation after the game, but Jason Garrison, who scored the eventual game-winner during Vasilevskiy's initial 92-second interval (and with Bishop waiting to re-enter the game), revealed he didn't exit for the purposes of using the washroom. Bishop wasn't made available to the media because of "treatment," while his teammates remained stayed silent on the subject. His teammates did heap praise on Vasilevskiy, made the final five saves required to secure the win, and survived a Blackhawks' power play in the process. Stamkos was asked about seeing the 20 year-old rookie enter the net in relief of Bishop. “You know what? Usually in a situation like that, you tighten up,” he said. ” Obviously, you feel for him getting thrown in there like that. But we have confidence in that kid.” “I know we have two unbelievably capable goaltenders,” echoed coach Jon Cooper. “When Bish had to leave, there wasn’t an ounce of stress on anybody on our bench, including myself. The kid proved it when he went in. He was great.” Vasilevskiy only started 13 games during the regular season. His last start came way back on March 31. Prior to tonight, he’d only made a pair of relief appearances in the playoffs. “He’s a pretty confident kid,” said Stamkos. “I think it helped that he’s come in relief a couple of times this playoffs. He’s got a taste of it. This will just add to his confidence. He made some big saves. “I don’t think anyone really knows what’s going on, but he played great tonight and it was nice to finish off the game for him.” The big question on everybody's minds following the game was whether the undisclosed situation will keep Bishop out of Game 3 in Chicago. Jon Cooper refused to speculate on the matter. “I will not answer a question about the goaltending or what happened tonight,” Cooper said. I suppose we will have to wait and see.    

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