Ben Bishop thought leg was broken in Game 1 fall
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop thought he suffered a serious leg injury in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins when he fell in the first period of Tampa’s 3-1 victory.
“It was a feeling that I’d never felt, and then all of a sudden kind of pressure and pain. First thing I thought, I thought I broke my leg. That’s what I was thinking,” Bishop said in his first comments to reporters since he was stretchered out of Game 1. “And it was just like, you’re just thinking the worst and you’re just upset and you think your season is over and your summer is over, and how long it’s going to take to get back. It’s funny how much stuff you can think about in a short period of time.”
Bishop said it was a “lower leg” problem and it has slowly improved since it happened. According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Bishop walked without a noticeable limp or a brace on his leg on Sunday.
“It’s not too painful right now,” Bishop said. “But going out there and playing hockey is different than just walking around.”
After the play happened, Bishop writhed on the ice in pain for several minutes and was stretchered off.
Backup Andrei Vasilevskiy came into Game 1 and stopped 25 of 26 shots.
Added Bishop, “It was just the feeling, and then there’s just pressure and pain right away, just kind of the way that it almost felt like somebody had slashed me on my — slashed me. And I was like, oh, what was that. And then all of a sudden you just felt the pressure and pain right away, then your mind starts racing, and I thought I had broken it, but thank goodness that wasn’t the case.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he hadn’t ruled out Bishop for Game 2 at Consol Energy Center on Monday. Bishop’s x-rays came back negative and the goaltender said an MRI looked “OK.”
“Day-to-day,” Cooper said of Bishop’s status. “Nothing has changed there, but he’s getting better with each day, and it’s encouraging to say.”
Bishop said he stepped on the ice with skates to see how it felt, but didn’t say much else about his status moving forward.
Bishop was voted a Vezina Trophy finalist this year, and currently has a 1.86 goal-against average and .939 save percentage through 11 games this postseason.
This isn’t the first time the Lightning have dealt with injury questions about Bishop in a playoff run. Last year, Bishop suffered a groin injury and didn’t start Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
He left Game 2 of the Cup Final and was replaced by Vasilevskiy, who won that game. Both of Vasilevskiy’s playoff wins in his career have come in relief of an injured Bishop.
Tampa lost the Stanley Cup Final in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The 21-year-old Vasilevskiy was a first-round draft pick in 2012, but has played just 40 career NHL games and six postseason games. He’s considered one of the more talented young goaltenders in the NHL.
“He’s a fun guy to work with on and off the ice, and personally, you know, I know that he can go in there and do the job,” Bishop said of Vasilevskiy. “He’s a young guy, but he’s got a lot of experience. He got to play in a Stanley Cup Final game last year, and he played really well, and he’s played well all season.”
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
– – – – – – –
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
