Things you see in your nightmares if you’re the Dallas Stars: Ben Bishop getting injured.
There’s no pinching your way out of this one at the moment after Bishop left Wednesday’s game with a lower-body injury while pitching a shutout in the second period against the Calgary Flames.
A likely Vezina candidate, Bishop was moving from left to right inside his crease to cover off a developing play in front of him. He stayed down in the butterfly before keeling over in obvious pain. From there, it was down the tunnel for and out of the game, with Anton Khudobin replacing him.
The Stars say he is questionable to return and Bishop didn’t emerge for the third period.
This is the second time this month the Stars have had to sweat a Bishop LBI. He left a game against the Minnesota Wild on March 14 and missed the next two games.
Bishop entered Wednesday first among starters with a .932 save percentage and fourth in shutouts with six. He was working on No. 7 after making 20 saves against the Western Conference-leading Flames prior to leaving.
Bishop’s numbers only get better when you dig a little deeper. He’s fourth in 5v5 save percentage at .935 and first among starters with a whopping 16.45 goals-saved above average. He’s second in high danger save percentage, too.
Khubobin has been solid with a .924 save percentage, but let’s not kid ourselves here: the Stars are likely going to face the high-powered Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Bishop was a stud earlier this week when the Stars beat the Jets 5-2.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck