It was a rough night for goaltenders last night, specifically in Tampa Bay where both Ben Bishop and Jimmy Howard were injured in the same game.
Bishop’s injury occurred just past the midway point of the first period. It seemed like an innocent play with Red Wings defenseman Nick Jensen firing a shot on goal from a rough angle. Bishop made what appeared to be a routine save, but appeared to pull something as he extended his leg out for the save. Bishop would leave the ice and be replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy. The extent of his injury is currently unknown.
Ben Bishop now joins the likes of Steve Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov who are out with injuries. Tampa Bay has been plagued by injuries thus far and their record and place in the standings are clear evidence of that.
Nearly six minutes into the second period, Nick Jensen would again be a factor as Jimmy Howard was injured.
The play occurred after Howard made a clutch save on Eric Condra. Jensen came in late and tried to tie up Condra, but ended up running into Howard and taking both himself and Condra down right on top of Howard.
As Howard lay on the ice he was clearly in a lot of pain. Teammates quickly waved for the medical staff, and he had to be helped off the ice and back to the locker room. The extent of his injury is unknown now, but it’s safe to say that he will be out of action until 2017.
The Red Wings have also placed Howard on IR, and already recalled Grand Rapids Griffins goalie Jared Coreau to serve as Petr Mrazek’s backup for the time being.