Tampa Bay vs. Pittsburgh Game 3 (The Ben Bishop Steven Stamkos Dilemma)

a blog by Iron Horse

With Game 4 coming up tonight between the Lightning & Penguins in Tampa Bay... Steven Stamkos and Ben Bishop are eager and anxious to come back and help their team return to the Stanley Cup Finals.

This Lightning Penguins series has been very exciting, all be it more exciting than the Western Conference Finals considering the Blues have been shut out and dominated the last 2 games. While back up goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, (good luck spelling that name again without looking at it) has played tremendously in the absence of Ben Bishop despite losing both of his starts. 

Tom Gulitti - NHL.com

With the Lightning trailing 2-1 in the series, Stamkos and Bishop each want to make it back in time to help their teammates.


"It's just tough timing," Bishop said. "There's nothing worse than sitting out and watching your team play. You want to be out there helping the guys. It's really just unfortunate. But at the same time you can't sit here and think about that. You just have to focus on getting better."


Although Bishop still appears to be limited in his movement, Stamkos looks and feels 100 percent healthy. He said that's the toughest part.


"It's a little different when it's pain that you're playing through," Stamkos said. "I have no pain. It's more frustrating because it's just not safe. I think there's a big difference between playing through pain and playing through your life at risk, so it's easier to comprehend it. I've played through a lot of pain and lots of hockey players play with a lot of pain. I don't feel any pain. That's the toughest part, I think, is physically feeling ready and just internally not being ready. I can't feel or see that."

This must suck to be Steven Stamkos in what is more than likely his last year in his long standing career in Tampa Bay. Stamkos after reaching the finals last year may be almost out of time when it comes to helping his team make a repeat trip. As far as Ben Bishop's status goes I look for him to come back for Game 5 if they lose tonight. No doubt that they will need him, but I doubt they can push Stamkos to play in the end of a contract year such as this where he will most likely be moved at the end of this season.