Bolts blast Bishop in 6-1 win over Dallas

by Gary Shelton on November 17, 2017 · 2 comments

in general

Stamkos scored twice against his old friend./JEFFREY S. KING

Stamkos scored twice against his old friend./JEFFREY S. KING

Friday, 1 a.m.

Nice to see Ben Bishop again.

It was even better to see the puck on the other side of Ben Bishop.

The Lightning welcomed home their former goaltender Thursday with a half-dozen goals, winning an easy 6-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Tampa Bay remains the hottest team in the NHL and is now 15-2-2 on the season.

Bishop and former backup Andrei Vasilevskiy were scoreless after a period, but Steven Stamkos scored 47 seconds into the second period to open the scoring. Stamkos would later add a second goal, his league-leading seventh power play goal of the year.

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"It was nice to get a couple,” Stamkos said, “but I’m sure when the dust settles here I’ll give Bish a text and thank him for letting me grab a few tonight.”

For the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov, Mikhail Sergachev, Brayden Point and Jake Dotchin all scored.

Bishop, however, was impressed with Vasilevskiy.

"He's going to be an elite goalie,” Bishop said. “He's going to be one of the best in the league for a long time and you can see it. He played well again tonight and it was fun watching him play the puck. He's come a long way. I met with him yesterday and had a coffee with him so it was good to catch up. He's a great kid and he has an extremely bright future."

Bishop was also impressed with a video tribute in which the Lightning thanked him for his efforts while playing here.

"You know, I try and keep it pretty serious during the games, but it was a great thing,” Bishop said. “I appreciate that from the Lightning organization. Jeff Vinik and Steve Yzerman have always been a class act ever since I got here. It means a lot to me, these fans mean a lot to me. I had some great years here and it holds a big place in my heart. It was nice to get the ovation, just a little unfortunate we couldn't get two points."

The Lightning's penalty kill, in particular, was effective.

"That was the game,” Stamkos said. “It gives us all the momentum and sucks the momentum from them. They get a 5-on-3 and they have the best power play in the league. Our penalty kill is sliding under the radar, it’s one of the best units we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Said coach Jon Cooper: “We had five to six minutes of straight penalty kill, and then to get the shorthanded goal against a good power play like theirs is huge.”

The Lightning are now 5-1 against the NHL West.

Tampa Bay plays again Saturday, hosting the Islanders. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

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