NHL-Lightning ground Pens in Game 1

May 14 (The Sports Xchange) - Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 24 shots after Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop left with a possible serious injury, and the Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a lack of depth to neutralize Pittsburgh's stars during a 3-1 victory over the Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Friday night. The Lightning, Stanley Cup finalists a season ago, got a goal from their top line, by Alex Killorn, and two from their second line, by Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin, to beat Pittsburgh for the fourth straight time this season and seize home-ice advantage. Game 2 will be Monday night, when the Lightning -- already out without star forward Steven Stamkos and shutdown defenseman Anton Stralman -- are likely to be without Bishop, arguably their most valuable player all season. Bishop, who had played all but 30 minutes during the first two rounds, clutched his left knee in obvious pain and had to be carried off the ice after playing the puck to the side of the net 12:25 into the first. He played the finals last season with a badly injured groin. But the already depleted Lightning, rather than collapsing without their reliable goalie, rallied around Vasilevskiy -- who at 21 years and 293 days, is 61 days younger than Penguins goalie Matt Murray, who became the youngest goalie in 23 years to start Game 1 of a conference finals. Vasilevskiy played 47:35. The Penguins had won 22 of 27 dating to the season, but once again got no goals from stars Sidney Crosby (8 games) and Evgeni Malkin (6 games) -- and, unlike the previous round against Washington, their other lines couldn't compensate.