Burns: Three things we learned from a resilient Game 1 victory

The Tampa Bay Lightning took Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Penguins in Pittsburgh, but the victory came with a heavy price tag.

Bolts goaltender Ben Bishop, a Vezina Award candidate and unquestionably the team’s MVP this season, was stretchered off the ice after appearing to injure his left leg while scrambling to get back in net to take away a Pens scoring opportunity.

Backup netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy came off the bench and, under difficult circumstances, shut down the postseason’s best attack, stopping 25 of 26 shots he faced to pick up his second-ever playoff victory (both coming in relief appearances).

The Bolts have been a resilient bunch all season with their ability to not just deal with but thrive following injuries to their captain and leading goal scorer Steven Stamkos and top pair defenseman Anton Stralman.

Losing Bishop though might be too much for even this group to overcome.

We should know more about Bishop’s status for the rest of the series later this weekend. But let’s forget about the bad news for a little bit and focus on the good, which we’ll break down in today’s 3 Things.

1. VASY, VASY, VASY…OY, OY, OY!

Andrei Vasilevskiy hadn’t played in a game since coming on in relief for Bishop in Game 1 of the Second Round. Before that, his last action was in the regular season finale against Montreal.

That means, when Vasilevskiy was called upon to enter Game 1, he did so with just 90 minutes of ice time over the last month under his belt.

Vasilevskiy has admitted in the past that his infrequent appearances in games have been difficult to deal with, the lack of playing time leaving him rusty and off his game when he does get in. But Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said nobody puts in more effort during practice and works harder at his craft than Vasilevskiy, and that work ethic paid off on Friday when he was able to step into a pressure-packed situation and thrive.

“If there’s one thing that Vasilevskiy will never be knocked for, it’s preparation and work ethic,” Cooper said. “It’s in his DNA. You never want to lose Bish, but nobody on the bench was sitting there thinking, ‘Oh, we’re nervous Vasilevskiy’s going in.’ We’ve kind of run with this tandem all year. He’s a rock, and he was that for us tonight, especially in the third.”

Alex Killorn echoed those sentiments when he was asked about Vasilevskiy’s performance during the post-game press conference.

“He’s definitely one of the hardest workers on our team, a guy that comes in every day and works hard,” he said. “It’s tough when you’re a backup goalie, and you never know when you’re going to get your …

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