The Wraparound is your daily look at the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’ll break down each day’s matchups with the all-important television and live streaming information included.
Ben Bishop remembers it well.
It was 2001, second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The then-14-year-old Bishop was in the stands at Savvis Center in St. Louis cheering on his beloved St. Louis Blues as they swept the Dallas Stars. The series victory put the Blues into the Western Conference Final for the first time in 15 years, and the young netminder recalled heckling Ed Belfour a few times.
“I remember going to playoff games and screaming ‘Belllll-four.’ He had one the best names for that chant,” Bishop said. “I remember the last 10 minutes, so it’s pretty ironic that I’m going back as that goalie.”
When the Blues-Stars series begins Thursday night (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN; Live stream) at Enterprise Center, Bishop, who was drafted by St. Louis in 2005, will surely be on the other end of a similar chant from the St. Louis crowd. But even while facing his favorite team growing up and likely scrounging up tickets for friends and family who might be donning Blue Note gear, the Vezina Trophy finalist is looking at this opportunity strictly as a “business trip.”
Bishop’s strong regular season play continued into Round 1 as he boasted a .937 even strength save percentage and allowed only 12 goals over the six-game series win against the Nashville Predators. His .900 high-danger save percentage (via Natural Stat Trick) is only topped by Robin Lehner (.962) and Phillip Grubauer (.941) among goalies still active in the playoffs.
If the Stars end up reaching the conference final for the first time since 2008, Bishop will have played a huge role in that achievement.
“He is, if not the highest reason, the top two reasons of why we’re in this position right now,” said Stars forward Tyler Seguin. “He’s been our backbone all year. He’s our best player, and we have a lot of confidence in him.”
[NBC 2019 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Game 1: Columbus Blue Jackets at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. ET. Can the Blue Jackets do it again? Maybe not another sweep, but can they knock off another “favored” opponent to advance to their first ever conference final? Columbus enters this series coming off a ton of rest, while the Bruins went the distance against the Toronto Maple Leafs and now have to shift gears and get going again. It’ll be a series of mixed emotions for Sean Kuraly, who grew up a Blue Jackets fan in Columbus. But his family is all on board with the black and gold, at least for this series. (NBCSN; Live stream)
PHT’s Round 2 previews
• Round 2 schedule, TV info
• Questions for the final eight teams
• PHT Roundtable
• Blue Jackets vs. Bruins
• Hurricanes vs. Islanders
• Blues vs. Stars
• Avalanche vs. Sharks
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.