Lightning, Penguins face near-identical goalie dilemmas
Two of the NHL's most competitive teams have more in common than being perennial Stanley Cup contenders.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves in eerily similar situations when it comes to their goaltenders.
Here are three ways the Eastern Conference powerhouses' respective creases resemble each other:
Struggling veterans
The two teams have plenty in common, and it starts, appropriately enough, with their longtime starting goaltenders.
| Goalie | GP | Record | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) | 16 | 7-5-3 | 3.29 | .904 |
| Ben Bishop (TB) | 16 | 7-9-0 | 2.99 | .902 |
Marc-Andre Fleury has accomplished plenty for the Penguins throughout his career, but he's no longer consistently dependable.
The 32-year-old took a back seat to Matt Murray last spring, and that trend has resumed now that the latter is back to full health. Fleury hasn't exactly made a strong case for more starts, and he failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to wrestle the crease back with Murray on the shelf earlier in the season.
Ben Bishop's early mediocrity has been a bit more surprising, but his numbers are strikingly similar to that of his Pittsburgh counterpart. The 30-year-old Lightning starter is in the final year of his contract, but he hasn't played like a pending unrestricted free agent.
Sonic youth
Both clubs have the luxury of possessing encouraging young netminders.
| Goalie | GP | Record | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Murray (PIT) | 9 | 7-2-0 | 2.02 | .929 |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB) | 10 | 6-2-1 | 2.24 | .930 |
Murray's ascent has been well documented, but that doesn't make it any less impressive. The 22-year-old helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup after usurping the starting job last season, and he's been stellar so far in 2016-17 after returning from injury.
Andrei Vasilevskiy is also 22 years old, and his stat line is almost a mirror image of that of his Penguins equivalent, although he hasn't yet been able to steal the starting job in Tampa Bay.
Oddly similar contracts
It's not just the statistics and the ages of the four netminders that are similar.
Bishop and Fleury both carry hefty cap hits, with the Lightning goalie on the books for $5.95 million and the Penguins net-protector coming in at $5.75 million for this season and the following two campaigns.
As if that's not enough, Murray and Vasilevskiy signed nearly identical extensions prior to this season:
| Goalie | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murray | $3.75M | $3.75M | $3.75M |
| Vasilevskiy | $3.5M | $3.5M | $3.5M |
So what do the two clubs do about their shared dilemma?
The Lightning tried to trade Bishop at the draft and the Penguins have entertained the idea of dealing Fleury, but neither netminder has much value at the moment.
It's a sticky situation for both teams, but at least Penguins GM Jim Rutherford and Lightning GM Steve Yzerman can understand each other's predicament.