TAMPA — After making just two starts in a 16-day span, Lightning G Ben Bishop has started back-to-back games.
5 Days Ago
5 Days Ago
1 Week Ago
It’s not a change in philosophy by the team. Bishop was coming off a strong performance Saturday in a 3-2 shootout win over the Ducks. And he got the nod again in Tuesday’s victory over the Kings. It makes sense for Tampa Bay, which is fighting for its playoff life, to ride the hot hand in net.
"It’s about winning hockey games," coach Jon Cooper said. "There are a lot of factors. We trust both of our goalies."
Cooper said the Lightning hasn’t really deviated from its preseason plan to give Bishop about 50 starts to Andrei Vasilevskiy‘s 30. Both are at 29 games played, but that’s only due to Vasilevskiy’s nine straight games when Bishop missed three weeks with a lower body injury.
"We’re on exact par for what we said," Cooper said. "You take those injured games out, it’s pretty much what we planned. I don’t think we’ve really deviated."
With a back-to-back road trip Friday and Saturday, Bishop and Vasilevskiy could split the next two before a five-day bye week.
KILLORN OUT: LW Alex Killorn was a surprise late scratch Tuesday due to an undisclosed injury. He had participated in warmups and did a pregame bench interview with NBCSN. Killorn had played in the first 53 games this season, C Tyler Johnson the only one to play in them all.
MEDICAL MATTERS: LW Ondrej Palat (undisclosed) missed his second straight game, though he did skate in the morning. Cooper said he’s unsure if Palat could return by this weekend. Cooper said LW Michael Bournival (upper body) is in the same situation. Bournival participated in Sunday and Monday’s practice in a regular jersey. He missed his fifth straight game.
SUPER BOWL TALK: C Brian Boyle, a huge Patriots fan from Hingham, Mass, said he was depressed at halftime of Sunday’s Super Bowl. But Boyle couldn’t have been happier with New England’s record comeback. "That was a movie ending, almost," Boyle said. "Couldn’t have scripted it any better."
MILESTONE WATCH: Associate coach Rick Bowness tied Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman for the most games behind the bench in the NHL as either a head coach or assistant coach (2,164). Bowness, 62, in his fourth season with the Lightning, can set the record Friday against the Wild. Most of Bowness’ games have been as an assistant, with 463 games as head coach for five teams.
STEPPING IN: D Jake Dotchin continues to impress the Lightning, including his partner, All-Star D Victor Hedman. "He’s been playing great," Hedman said. "He moves the puck very well, he’s got a great shot, good positioning. Tough to play against. He’s got all the tools to be a regular in the NHL."
NUTS AND BOLTS: The Lightning wore its road white jerseys Tuesday because the Kings brought their home black ones on their road trip for a game against Philadelphia, which was wearing its white anniversary sweaters.
Joe Smith can be reached at joesmith@tampabay.com.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
