Bishop 'day-to-day' after being taken out of Game 1 on stretcher

Less than 24 hours after being stretchered off the ice of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop is considered “day-to-day.” 

The Tampa Bay Times spoke with general manager Steve Yzerman who said Bishop suffered a “lower body injury” in the first period of Game 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"Everything has been really good so far on Ben," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said on a conference call with reporters Saturday. "Much better news than the scene we saw what happened when he was carted off. As far as playing status, I have no answer.”

After the Game Cooper said Bishop, “had x-rays done and everything came back negative, so we’re hoping for the best ... he’s definitely hurt, but there’s nothing structurally wrong right now. That was a big relief."

Bishop was injured while scrambling back into position after a broken play around the Lightning’s net. He writhed in pain on the ice for several minutes, before being placed on the stretcher.

Andrei Vasilevkiy came into the game and stopped 25 of 26 Penguins shots on goal in the 3-1 win.

Bishop is arguably the best goaltender left in the playoffs. He 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. 

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. 

The Lightning have played the entire postseason without top-two defenseman Anton Stralman, who is out with a fractured fibula and captain Steven Stamkos, who has missed time with a blood clot.

"We've faced a lot of adversity, and I think we're obviously a little bit used to it," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said according to the team's official website. "For us, we've been through situations like this before. We knew it was a very important game for us. We made sure that we got ready for this one. When [Ben Bishop] went down, we wanted to play a good game for him. Obviously we started off on the right foot and played a great game. We played good defensively there in the third and we didn't give them too much."

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