Tampa Bay Lightning G Ben Bishop Will Return Against Buffalo Sabres
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop has recovered from his Lower-Body Injury and is ready to make his return tonight against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has had an incredibly tough journey so far this season; especially when it comes to player injuries. While the Lightning have arguably the best depth in the entire National Hockey League, missing a good number of your regular guys wreaks havoc on the team’s chemistry.
Thankfully, there is some good news making its way around the Bolts Nation today. As the Tampa Bay Lightning prepare to charge into the Amalie Arena tonight to take on the Buffalo Sabres, Lightning Beat Writer Bryan Burns announced goaltender Ben Bishop will be returning to the lineup tonight.
It seems as if Bishop has chosen to take a page out of the Steven Stamkos Guide to Returning From Injury. Initially, it was said Bishop would be forced to miss 3-4 weeks due to his Lower-Body Injury. Right now, Bishop is at three weeks and two days.
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Ben Bishop returning to the lineup early proves two things; his dedication to the team and his determination to help the team reach their highest potential, and the fact the Lightning have one of the best training staffs in the game of hockey.
After the Lightning took the ice this morning for practice, Ben Bishop had nothing but praise for the Lightning training staff and their efforts to help him make a speedy return to the ice.
"“We’ve got a good training staff so obviously that helps and get back and play a game or two before the California trip. Obviously, it’s better than coming back later I guess.”"
The Tampa Bay Lightning can definitely use some consistency between the pipes right now. This is not to say Andrei Vasilevskiy has not done his best to keep the Lightning above water during Bishop’s injury; however, there are some glaring differences between the two when it comes to their playstyle.
Ben Bishop is much more versatile between the pipes. Not only is he skilled at keeping the puck out of the back of the net and coming up big when the team really needs him to, but he also has a lot of talent when it comes to playing the puck.
Bishop’s teammate Anton Stralman spoke to this very topic after practice today. He wasted no time in discussing Bishop’s versatility and his puck handling skills.
"“You trust that he makes the right play. It’s all about communication,” Stralman said. “If we make the right read for him on the ice, he’ll make the pass, no problem. He’s as good as me passing the puck. He’s terrific like that.”"
The Tampa Bay Lightning have a lot of work in front of them if they have any hopes of making it to the postseason. The time for change is now, and hopefully, as the Lightning continues to get players like Ben Bishop back into the lineup, we can start to see more of the team that started the 2016-17 season.
Next: Reliving The Top 5 Lightning Moments Of 2016
As we’ve said a million times this season, the greatest journeys in life start with nothing more than a single stride. All the Lightning have left to do at this point is take that stride, get back to basics, and do what they do best; score goals and win games.