The newest name added to the injury report is goaltender Ben Bishop who will be out 3-4 weeks due to a lower-body injury. Of course, this weakens the Bolts depth and talent at the goalie position. However, Bishop’s injury means so much more than just that.
Bishop gave up three goals on 22 shots against the Flames on Wednesday, but he secured a road win thanks to six goals of support from his offense.
It might have made sense to keep pending free agent Ben Bishop all year – if the Lightning were healthy and not in a dogfight for a playoff berth.
Ben Bishop is set to become an unrestricted free agent a year from now and will be in line for a raise. He will be nearly impossible for the Lightning to accommodate as Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Jonathan Drouin and Victor Hedman all need next contracts this summer or next.
Heading in to the summer the Lightning arguably hold the best tandem in the league with Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop and highly touted 21-year-old Andrei Vasielvskiy.
The quirks that have made the Barclays Center infamous are no big deal to Ben Bishop, the goaltender for the Lightning.
Look at Ben Bishop and the first thing you see is his size. The man stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 216 pounds in street clothes. Put him in skates and goalie equipment, and he’s 6-9 and wide. If you’re a shooter and he cuts down the angle for the Tampa Bay Lightning, you might be able to spot a strand or two of the net, if you’re lucky.
Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop, Washington’s Braden Holtby and Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick are the finalists for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie.
Bishop shut out the Red Wings on Thursday in Game 5’s 1-0 victory, as the netminder saved all 34 shots that came his way to send the Lightning to the second round.
