Bolts beat Blackhawks in Game 2 after 20-year-old rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy replaces starter Ben Bishop

TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Lightning had beaten the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3. They had tied the Stanley Cup Final, 1-1. But goaltender Ben Bishop had left the game twice in the third period and was unavailable to reporters because he was receiving “treatment,” according to a team spokesman. So out walked Andrei Vasilevskiy, a well-regarded prospect but a 20-year-old kid.

Vasilevskiy was a relative footnote Saturday night amid the speed and skill and scoring chances and lead changes and controversy. He appeared in only his 19th NHL game, appeared in only his third NHL playoff game and played only nine minutes and 13 seconds – 1:32 after Bishop left the first time and the final 7:41 after Bishop left again. He became the answer to a trivia question as the first goaltender since 1928 to earn his first NHL playoff win in relief in the Cup final.

But the spotlight shines on him now, even if the Bolts try to shelter him.

“No cameras!” a team spokesman shouted.

The cameramen retreated. The writers closed in. Wearing a black T-shirt with the Bolts’ internal playoff slogan – Al Davis’ old “JUST WIN, BABY!” – the Russian rookie answered questions in halting English, sometimes with the help of a translator.

“Nervous?” Vasilevskiy said, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head. “Just maybe little bit, but after the first couple shots, I feel myself better. Every game I’m just ready. I keep my head ready for game, and that’s it.”

What happened to Bishop is a closely guarded secret. Antoine Vermette collided with him early in the third, and then he was spotted having a long talk with defensemen Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman during a stoppage in play. Not that either defenseman was willing to share details.

Stralman smiled.

“No,” he said. “Not really.”

Hedman smiled, too.

“We said …”

Pause.

“Uh …”

Pause.

“What did we talk about? We talked about the ice. The ice was a little bit soft, so …”

Soon afterward, Brent Seabrook fired a shot as Marian Hossa crashed the net. Hossa’s stick pushed into Bishop’s left pad at the edge of the crease as Bishop tried to kick his leg and the puck went in, tying the game, 3-3. Bishop immediately protested to the nearest referee. Clearly, Bishop felt Hossa had interfered (and was right based on the replay).

Possibly, it was even worse than that.

“I’m guessing,” tweeted Corey Hirsch, a former NHL goalie and NHL goalie coach, “but I do know when Hossa pushed Bishops [sic] leg, it’s really easy to pull a groin trying to make a save while that happens.”

Seabrook’s goal came 3:38 into the third. Bishop left the game at 7:17, and Vasilevskiy came off the bench.

“I just was happy [to play],” Vasilevskiy said.

Jason Garrison gave the Lightning a 4-3 lead on the power play at 8:49. Bishop stretched in the tunnel and returned immediately afterward, but then he left at 12:19 and was never seen again.

“We heard the PA announcer going back and forth with announcing who was in net,” said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. “We don’t know what’s up, obviously.”

Lightning coach Jon Cooper led off his postgame press conference like this: “Before we get going, I hate to be that guy, I know I talk way too much when I get up here, but I won’t answer a question about the goaltending and what happened tonight. I apologize for that.”

The first question was about the goaltending, anyway, of course.

“The one thing about Vasilevskiy,” Cooper answered, “I know we have two unbelievably capable goaltenders. When Bish had to leave, there wasn’t an ounce of stress on anybody on our bench, including myself. I mean, the kid proved it when he went in. He was great.”

There is truth to that. The Bolts do have two capable goaltenders.

As of April 15, Bishop had only 59 minutes of playoff experience as a professional, all with the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen. But he was a 6-foot-7 monster who had been good enough to be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender last season, and he had a 2.14 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in these playoffs entering Saturday night.

As of now, Vasilevskiy has only 54 minutes of playoff experience in North America. But he’s a 6-foot-3 athlete who had been good enough to be drafted in the first round, 19th overall, in 2012. He won a silver medal with Russia at the 2012 world junior championship. He played 18 playoff games with Salavat Yulayev in the KHL last year, posting a 1.99 GAA.

“He’s proven on every level he’s a winner, and he’s one of the best goalie prospects in a lot of years,” Hedman said. “We’ve seen him battle throughout games this year, and we’ll see what happens.”

But to act like there isn’t an ounce of stress on the Lightning now is, well, an act.

There is a reason Bishop is the starter and Vasilevskiy the backup. The kid played 34:52 in the second round against the Montreal Canadiens and allowed three goals on 26 shots. He played 10:07 in the Eastern Conference final against the New York Rangers and allowed one on seven. He allowed none on five Saturday night, and he made a nice save on Brad Richards as the Lightning killed a late power play. But now the series shifts to Chicago, and Bishop’s status is uncertain, and if you wanted to ask Vasilevskiy what he thought about that, you couldn’t. A team spokesman cut off questions after less than two minutes.

“He’s quiet guy, and he knows what to do, and he’s, like, professional,” said Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov. “He’s just waiting for his chance.”

He might have it now, ready or not.

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