There is no goalie controversy – for now

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook

TAMPA, Fla. – In football circles there is an adage that states if a team has two No. 1 quarterbacks, they don’t have one.

That saying doesn’t exactly translate over to hockey. Teams can successfully operate in a two goalie system. In recent years there have been some teams that have thrived under those circumstances. In today’s game, having two quality goaltenders is almost a necessity as points are so valuable teams can’t afford to give any away.

The situation the Tampa Bay Lightning find themselves in is a luxury being able to start either Ben Bishop – a two-time Vezina Finalist – or Andrei Vasilevskiy, one of the top young goaltenders in the league. It can be great for internal competition, pushing each to be better and at the top of their game on a consistent basis.

But there is also a bit of a drawback to having such two top quality net minders on the roster – it can create a bit of a controversial situation.

Those thoughts have crept up here as the season reached the quarter mark.

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Through the opening 22 games of the season, Bishop has started 14 games and Vasilevskiy eight. Bishop sports a 7-7 record, Vasilevskiy 6-1-1. Bishop’s goals against average is 2.97, Vasilevskiy sports a league-best 1.50 GAA. Vasilevskiy has a pair of shutouts and allowed more than two goals twice. Bishop has yet to record a shutout and has allowed three or more goals nine times, including four or more on four occasions.

When there is that sort of a disparity between the numbers, the call often goes out for one to get more playing time than the other.

But don’t expect that to happen with the Lightning, at least not at the moment.

Since the start of training camp the plan all along has been to spread out the playing time to ensure both were getting enough starts. Several times in the early stages of the season head coach Jon Cooper has hinted and been adamant that there has been a plan in place from the start of the season and they did not plan to deviate from it despite how things have played out to this point.

In looking at how everything has been distributed, neither goaltender has received more than two consecutive starts at any point.

Bishop, who started eight consecutive games to start the season last year, started back-to-back games six times through the opening 23 games of the season.

Don’t look for that to change much, if any, in the near future. And in a conversation I had with Bobby Taylor while filling in on the Opening Faceoff show on TBLPowerPlay.com on Nov. 25 and I asked him how to handle the goaltending situation the Lightning have at the moment and his reply was to make sure both are getting at least one start per week.

He also mentioned that it helps with this type of mentality to help the goaltenders prepare when things are mapped out a certain way, and he knows from experience after being the backup to Bernie Parent with the Flyers, mentioning how one time he went eight weeks between starts.

So don’t expect there to be much, if any, of a goaltending controversy with the Lightning.

This is Bishop’s team right now. He’s earned that right for what he has done for the franchise since he arrived from Ottawa at the end of the 2013 season.

Can that change? Of course, nothing is ever set in stone.

But don’t base any of those thoughts on how the first two months of the season has played out. Until further notice, Bishop will receive a majority of the starts, just not at the volume he’s played in the past.

There is no controversy in that.

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