Lightning Must Take Resilience to Another Level to Overcome Loss of Ben Bishop

Intellectually, you want to think the Tampa Bay Lightning are toast. Friday night, the Lightning saw their starting goalie, Ben Bishop, carried off the ice in the first period of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

"There go the Stanley Cup hopes of the Tampa Bay Lightning." 

If there was one thing anyone could agree on about the Lightning entering their series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was that they could not afford another major injury, and especially not to Ben Bishop. The Bolts were already pushing it with a Cinderella story as it was.

They entered Game 1 having already played without their top regular-season goal scorer (Steven Stamkos) for two playoff rounds, along with their second-leading scorer among defensemen (Anton Stralman). Then, in the first period, down went Bishop.

But while everyone keeps saying the Lightning are done because of the injuries, all they do is keep winning playoff games. The latest was the 3-1 Game 1 victory over the Penguins at Consol Energy Center, with Bishop's backup, Andrei Vasilevskiy, making 25 saves on 26 shots in emergency relief of Bishop, one of three Vezina Trophy finalists for this season. The Lightning can take a 2-0 series lead with a win in Game 2 Monday night in Pittsburgh.

Vasilevskiy may be a no-name to the rest of the world, but he's not to Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman. In his second year on the job as Tampa Bay's GM, Yzerman selected Vasilevskiy as the 19th pick in the first round of the 2012 NHL draft. Since 2010, only Jack Campbell (11th overall in 2010 by Dallas) has been selected earlier than Vasilevskiy as a goalie in the draft.

Vasilevskiy is a very highly regarded goalie, but can he really just step in like this and keep Tampa Bay on an upward winning trajectory?

The odds would seem against it, but how many believed the Bolts would win two rounds without Stamkos and Stralman? Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters (via NBC Sports), however, that Bishop's injury may not be as serious as first thought.

"Injuries are part of the game, and you never want it to happen to anybody on either team. You don't want to see things like that, but he went in, and we got him checked out. He had X-rays done, and everything came back negative. So we're hoping for the best," Cooper said.

Yzerman has been very keen on Vasilevskiy, but the Russian hasn't had much of an opportunity to play with Bishop being so strong in net since he was drafted. Now, he has that opportunity. Let's hope for the best with Bishop as far as his knee goes, but keep in mind: X-rays are one thing, MRIs are another. MRIs take longer and give the full assessment of an injury. Bishop hasn't had an MRI yet, at least not according to Lightning officials.

The Lightning got goals from Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin to put the Penguins in the one-game hole. Tampa Bay was outshot 35-20, including 16-5 in the third period. Tampa Bay also blocked 20 shots, to the Penguins' 10. If Pittsburgh plays more games like it did in Game 1, odds are it will fare well the rest of the way.

Now, though, the big question for Penguins coach Mike Sullivan: Is it time to put Matt Murray on the bench and go with Marc-Andre Fleury in goal? 

This loss can hardly be blamed on the rookie Murray, who has played great so far in the postseason. But the question is no less valid. Maybe it's time to go with Fleury, who has been the No. 1 guy in Pittsburgh for more than a decade. 

Any time a team loses a Game 1 at home, reflection is necessary. As good as Murray has been, Fleury's time is now. The Penguins are paying Fleury nearly 10 times as much as Murray ($5.75 million to $642,500), and Sullivan knows that. 

More pressing perhaps for the Penguins, though, is how to get Sidney Crosby going again. Crosby, a Hart Trophy finalist, has zero goals and three assists in his last six games. He only had two shots on goal in 23 minutes, eight seconds of ice time in Game 1. Evgeni Malkin was held pointless in the game, though he did have seven shots on net.

How long can Tampa Bay keep winning games without top players? Over the course of a regular season, not likely in the long term. But the Bolts only have to win seven of their next 13 possible games to win their first Cup since 2004.

They've come this far without Stamkos and Stralman. Now, they may have to go without Bishop too. Somebody please tell Cooper that this isn't supposed to be possible.

Adrian Dater covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. Follow @Adater on Twitter.