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Bishop Injured; Lindback Saves the Day, Shuts Out Leafs |
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The Tampa Bay Lightning shrugged off a big dose of adversity on Tuesday night and ended up defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 3-0. Buoyed by great performances from Anders Lindback, Victor Hedman, and Ondrej Palat, the Bolts were able to eliminate Toronto from playoff contention. The win moves Tampa’s record to 43-27-9, which puts them back within two points of the Montreal Canadiens for second place in the Atlantic Division.
When you consider what transpired right near the start of the game, the fact that the Bolts managed to generate two points is nothing short of a miracle. At the 5:43 mark of the first period, with the game still scoreless, goaltender Ben Bishop suffered an injury and was forced to leave the game. Before commenting, I’ll give you a chance to look at the play for yourself.
It doesn’t look good. Bishop was reaching upwards to grab the puck, and then he crashed down with his left arm extended. Whether it’s a wrist injury, a shoulder injury, or a collarbone injury doesn’t necessarily matter. The fact is that the Lightning will likely be without their number one goaltender for the foreseeable future. Head coach Jon Cooper had no update on Bishop, but did note that “it’s [Lindback’s] turn” after the game. That would lead me to believe that Bishop won’t be returning to action anytime soon.
This injury comes following days, if not weeks, of discussion about Bishop’s workload. He was already dealing with a wrist injury that will likely need off-season surgery. Once the Lightning clinched a playoff spot, many thought that the team would start to ease Lindback into action and spot Bishop some rest. That didn’t happen. Bishop continued to play every moment of every game leading up to the 5:43 mark of Tuesday’s first period. I’ve been critical of that coaching choice, but my main focus now is just wishing Bishop well in his recovery. He’s had an MVP season for the Bolts.
Rather than crumble after being forced to play in front of a goaltender that hasn’t exactly received a vote of confidence from the coaching staff, the Lightning stuck to their game plan and gave the Leafs nothing. Ondrej Palat opened the scoring at the 9:19 mark of the second period when he sent a beautiful wrist shot past a screened James Reimer. Assisted by Victor Hedman and Radko Gudas, Palat’s first of two on the night was his 21st of the season.
The next Lightning goal, Palat’s 22nd of the year, was a power play marker scored at the 15:45 mark of the middle frame. After Steven Stamkos banked the puck off the back boards, Palat knocked the puck home from the side of the net with ease. Victor Hedman, who had a three point night, was credited with the second assist.
If any of you still doubt Palat’s credentials as a Calder Trophy nominee and potential winner, you shouldn't. Now with 57 points through 79 games, the 2011 7th round draft pick only trails Colorado rookie Nathan MacKinnon by four points (as of writing time) in the scoring race. When you combine Palat’s role on the penalty kill and the fact that most of his offense has come at even strength, it’s quite easy to make a case for him. He’s been a point-per-game player over the last half of the season, and it doesn’t look like he plans on slowing down.
With their season hanging in the balance, the Leafs came out in the third period and…. did nothing. Quite frankly, it was an embarrassing performance from a team that needed a win. Score effects didn’t show up, and the Lightning actually managed to increase their possession gap in the final frame. In the words of Bill O’Reilly, you can’t explain that.
Can you say possession black hole? This is the story of Toronto’s season.
You can see on that chart that the only goal of that third period was a Lightning marker. With James Reimer pulled, Victor Hedman deposited the biscuit into the gaping cage and sealed the deal on the 3-0 win. I’ve already plugged Palat as a potential Calder winner, so now it’s time for Hedman to get some love. If he isn’t a Norris finalist, it’ll be a crime. In addition to the fact that he’s been a rock defensively, Hedman has added 53 points in 72 games. That output is enough to put him fourth in the defenseman scoring race, despite the fact that he missed a handful of games with injury. He deserves much more national attention than he’s currently receiving.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least make note of the fact that defender Sami Salo left the game with an apparent injury and did not return. Overshadowed by the Bishop news, Salo’s departure creates yet another hole on a Lightning blue line that is already without Mike Kostka.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with this Lightning team over the next couple of days. Obviously the team has to be happy with the fact that Lindback stopped all 25 shots he faced on Tuesday, but let’s not pretend that things aren’t in rough shape in the Lightning crease. I’d expect that the team will call up Kristers Gudlevskis in the near future. From there, it’s hard to predict what will happen.
The Lightning’s next game, a tilt with the Philadelphia Flyers, is scheduled for Thursday.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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