WASHINGTON -- Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy calls it the worst moment of his life, even if it was undeniably the catalyst for some of his best ones.
It was 2016. Vasilevskiy was 22, in his third season as goalie Ben Bishop's understudy. He hadn't played more than 24 games in a season. His most notable NHL achievement had been his surprise start in Game 4 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final for an ailing Bishop, where he lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.
As this was Ben Bishop, he was ailing again in December 2016 for the Lightning, who pushed Vasilevskiy into starting-goalie duty.