Ben Bishop's Uncertain Status Could Be Secret Boost for the Tampa Bay Lightning

CHICAGO — On Sunday, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper answered the question he pre-emptively nullified following the events of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.

Who is your starting goaltender for Game 3—Ben Bishop, who left in the third period with an undisclosed injury, or Andrei Vasilevskiy, a 20-year-old rookie who earned the 4-3 win in relief by making five saves? 

There sat the usually loquacious Cooper at the podium Sunday evening, pausing for a moment before delivering what was probably a rehearsed answer that wasn’t any less entertaining because it was likely premeditated. 

“In honor of the 11th anniversary of our organization’s first Stanley Cup,” Cooper said, “how would John Tortorella respond to that? I’ll just leave it at that.” 

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

We can quickly imagine the answer, which would be in a Boston accent along the lines of: “Are you kidding? It’s Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final and you want me to reveal an injury of that magnitude? We’re going to go about our business and play the right way.”

Whether it’s Cooper using comedy while paying tribute to the 2004 Lightning or Tortorella being combative, the bottom line is Bishop’s status is in doubt for Monday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. Cooper revealed at the team’s hotel that he does not know if he will turn to Bishop or Vasilevskiy and won’t have a firm grasp on the situation until the team practices Monday morning.

If it is indeed Vasilevskiy who makes his first career postseason start, the Lightning may be better off if Bishop is truly hobbled and much less than 100 percent.

Vasilevskiy has a “goaltender of the future” tab, and to find out how little that’s worth, ask Jonathan Bernier about it during his time with Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings, when it was only a matter of time before he usurped Quick. Bishop is the now goaltender for the Lightning, and to stave off Vasilevskiy the way Quick did to Bernier, backstopping his team to a Stanley Cup is the best way to do it.

If Bishop can’t do that, even if it's because of injury, the future could be now for Vasilevskiy.

It’s a future with which Cooper is comfortable, because he saw what his Russian-born goaltender could do in a hostile environment against the New York Islanders when asked to replace an injured Bishop during the regular season. 

“We were on the Island, our fifth game in 10 nights,” Cooper said. “It was a tough trip for us. I think Vasi kicked out 40-plus (45 total). We didn't have the puck the whole night. We had a 1-0 lead sometime in the third (3:10 remaining). We ended up losing the game 3-1, but we should have lost 10-1.

“The building was rocking. It was just a crazy atmosphere. He was unreal. He just played with this unreal calm about himself. That's kind of when I knew we had something in this kid.”

It's reading between the lines, sure, but the fact Cooper had that story queued up shows he's giving serious thought to the possibility of being without Bishop for Game 3. 

It’s understandable if you've parachuted into this series and couldn’t pick Tampa’s backup goaltender out of a lineup. But Vasilevskiy is hardly Al Montoya or Viktor Fasth.

Vasilevskiy, the 19th pick of the 2012 draft, was the first goaltender selected. He backstopped Russia’s world junior team to silver at the 2012 World Junior Championships and had a tournament-leading .953 save percentage, then won bronze the following year with a .950 save percentage.

As a teenager in the KHL, Vasilevskiy showed he can play against men, posting a .924 save percentage in 36 games over two seasons.

In his first NHL season, he had a .918 save percentage, about three points above the league average, in 16 games, and the Lightning  deemed him ready enough to displace Evgeni Nabokov as the club's backup goaltender.

Dominating what is essentially a four-team teenage tournament a few years ago, performing well in a second-rate pro league and forcing a 39-year-old into retirement are all well and good, but those accomplishments are a far cry from having to beat an explosive Blackhawks team in the rollicking United Center during the Stanley Cup Final with the entire world watching.

If anyone can do it, if you believe the Lightning, it’s Vasilevskiy. 

“He's a young kid,” said Lightning center Steven Stamkos. “Let's not forget, he played in the KHL for a couple years. That's pro experience for him. He showed that since he came over here. Ever since he came over here, he works extremely hard in practice. He's ready.

“He's a guy that's probably the most prepared out of everybody. He's at the rink six to eight hours a day preparing. He's waiting for his chance. Whether that's tomorrow or not, he'll be ready.”

The bigger concern with a goaltender of the future is not destroying that future by placing him in a situation he can’t handle, as it could stunt his development or destroy his confidence. Cooper doesn’t want to risk that, which is why Bishop will likely have to be seriously incapacitated for such a switch to occur. 

There’s also the loss of Bishop’s puck-handling abilities—he has three assists in the postseason and seven points when including the regular season. However, considering how often he turns over the puck, he’s essentially the Jonathan Drouin of puck-handling goaltenders and would benefit from having that side of his game scratched.

Vasilevskiy is rested, talented and a fine option if Bishop can’t play. If he gets a chance to seize the net, this could be the start to a great NHL career for Vasilevskiy and the beginning of the end in Tampa for Bishop, who will be a free agent after the 2015-16 season.

“If Bish can't go [in Game 3], is that a blow to us? Sure it is,” Cooper said. “But do we think the series is lost because Vasilevskiy is going in? Not a chance.”

All statistics via NHL.com and all quotes obtained firsthand.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @DaveLozo.