Ben Bishop was afraid.
After suffering a lower-body injury in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, Bishop was worried that he broke his leg. A broken leg would have meant that his postseason and his summer would both be over. The 29-year-old suffered an injury on the play, but luckily for him, it wasn’t a broken leg.
“It was just a scary experience,” Bishop said, per the Tampa Bay Times. “I felt something I’ve never felt before, pain everywhere. Your mind starts racing, you start thinking the worst. I’m thinking my leg is broken, mind starts spinning. I was really scared. Definitely one of the scarier things to happen to me.
“You’re thinking your season is over, your summer is over, how long is it going to take you to get back. It’s funny how much stuff you think about in a short period of time. Luckily it’s not that bad.”
Although Lightning head coach Jon Cooper hasn’t ruled Bishop out for Game 2, it would be surprising to see him between the pipes on Monday night.
Bishop is one of the big reasons why the Bolts are in the third round, but after Andrei Vasilevskiy’s strong relief appearance in Game 1, the Lightning can rest easy knowing they have another quality option in goal.
Bishop on Vasilevskiy's play in relief: "We have full confidence in him. He's a great goalie." #TBLightning
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) May 15, 2016
With or without Bishop, the Lightning will head into Game 2 with a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Penguins.