It was only fitting that Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop pitched a shutout in Brian Burke’s barn on Friday night. After being ‘snubbed’ by Burke and the rest of the Team USA brass earlier in the week, Bishop went into the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary and played his way to a 2-0 shutout decision. The win is the Lightning’s fifth straight road win, and 25th victory of the season. Tampa now sits only two points back of the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division.

After a scoreless first period, in which the Lightning fired 13 shots at Karri Ramo, Ondrej Palat opened the scoring at the 5:23 mark of the second frame. Assisted nicely by Mark Barberio and Teddy Purcell, Palat took the puck in the slot and wired home a Stamkos-esque wrist shot to give the Lightning the 1-0 lead. It was the 2011 7th rounder’s seventh goal of the season, and second in his last three games.

Only five minutes after Palat’s opening marker was tallied, Nikita Kucherov scored his second goal in as many games to get the Lightning some insurance. The recipient of a great (read: beyond brilliant) feed from Palat, Kucherov had a wide-open net to look at as he tapped the puck past Ramo. At this point, it’s hard to imagine that the organization will be able to send the young Russian back to Syracuse when Stamkos gets back; he’s been that good.

Palat’s two point performance gives him a total of six points in his last five games. Earlier in the season, I marveled that the young forward was doing everything right and that the offense would eventually come. Well, it’s here right now. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Ondrej Palat is truly Mr. Everything for this Tampa Bay Lightning team. He’s a special player, and an absolute treat to watch. Did I mention that he was a 7th round draft pick? In 2011? Oh, yes I did. But it's worth mentioning again. What a success story.

That was the end of the offense parade. Calgary mounted some good pressure during the third period, but they weren’t able to break through Big Ben. The Lightning goalie wasn’t particularly busy on Friday, but he did make the saves he needed to make. As a result of the shutout victory, Bishop’s statistics improved in every category. He now sits tied for first in the league with four shutouts, tied for first in the league with a .936 SV%, third in the league with a 1.83 GAA, and second in the league with 22 wins. That, folks, is Vezina-quality goaltending. Apparently it’s not Olympic caliber goaltending, though.

The Lightning will now head to Edmonton, where they’ll face the Oilers on Sunday night.

As always, thanks for reading.

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