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The Detroit Red Wings may have been without both their high-scoring defensemen Marek Zidlicky and Niklas Kronwall, but it is still impressive that Ben Bishop shut out his opponent in Game 7 of the opening series.
Moving forward, the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s success is reliant on Bishop’s success in net. Going up against Hart Trophy candidate Carey Price will be the biggest test of Bishop’s career. Obviously, the Lightning missed him last season when he missed the playoffs and Anders Lindback had to play in his place. Now he can show why he can be the goalie the team builds around.
The Lightning have plenty of offensive talent. Despite his slump, they still have a reliable superstar in Steven Stamkos. They also have young guns in Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. That doesn’t even count Ryan Callahan, who came over in the New York Rangers‘ trade for Martin St. Louis. Most would think with names like that on offense the team wouldn’t need great goaltending to win.
That isn’t going to be the case this round. Price is going to be motivated to get to the Rangers again. The Lightning need to stop scoring rather than creating more of their own. They are the highest scoring team in the league, but that doesn’t happen in the playoffs. The goals plummet in the postseason and the importance of each shot goes through the roof.
If Bishop can play like he did against Detroit, then the Lightning have a chance. He didn’t allow more than three goals in any game of round one, and he finished it off with a shutout. Tampa Bay doesn’t allow a lot of shots, so he has to stop the ones that are in front of him.
Bishop can handle the pressure. His biggest weakness is his injury history. If he can stay healthy and try to play at the level of Price, then this will be a better series than many are anticipating.
Nick Villano is the NHL feature writer for Rant Sports. He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.
