Bishop, who is 7-5-0 with a 2.68 GAA and .908 save percentage, said the
Stars are a perfect fit for him and expects them to continue to improve
on their 9-8-1 start.
"I think the city is great, there's a lot of things to do, and the
organization is great," Bishop said. "We have a good team here and we're
still trying to find our identity this season."
Bishop and the Stars would get a Boyd Gordon Authentic Jersey nice boost if they could defeat Lightning, who have the best record in
the NHL (14-2-2) and are coming off of a 3-0-0 California trip.
Lightning forwards Steven Stamkos (eight goals, 23 assists) and Nikita
Kucherov (16 goals, 14 assists) are Nos. 1 and 2 in the NHL in scoring,
and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who Bishop described as "kind of a little
brother," has 13 wins, putting him on pace to break the Lightning
single-season record for wins (40) that Bishop set in 2014-15.
Bishop is looking forward to the challenge of playing the Lightning.
"I'm going to be excited, Brian Propp Authentic Jersey I think," Bishop said. "I'm going to try to treat it like any other
game, but I'm sure there's going to be a little bit different feeling
coming in and going into the other locker room. But it should be fun.
I'm lucky to be able to do this. It's a great sport, and this just makes
it that much more fun."
As for facing Stamkos and Kucherov, Bishop said he saw them starting to
develop chemistry last season and isn't surprised they are part of the
most productive line in the NHL.
"You have to know where Chris Conner Authentic Jersey they are on the ice," Bishop said. "[Vladislav Namestnikov] is in there
too. They like to look for each other and they obviously both have
great shots. It's about knowing where they are on the ice, and if one
guy has the puck, look for the other guy real quick because they read
each other well."
Bishop remains popular among Tampa Bay fans and Lightning players.
Stamkos talked with him for several minutes Wednesday after practice and
said he expects the goalie to get a warm reception Thursday.
"He was a huge part of the success we had here in the past four or five
seasons, everyone knows that," Stamkos said. "He was a great guy in the
room and still a close friend to a lot of us. It's going to be a little
weird … but when the puck drops, we're going to try to score as many
goals as we can."
Bishop said he and Vasilevskiy have communicated often during the
season. He's proud of what the 22-year-old has accomplished early in his
tenure as the Lightning's No. 1 goalie, but not surprised.
"To think that he'd be [13-1-1] right now, I don't know if I saw that
coming, but he's worked so hard to get here and I'm glad to see that
work pay off," Bishop said. "He deserves it. He's always been one of the
hardest working guys I met."
