Ben Bishop takes over franchise lead in victories with win over Buffalo

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Ben Bishop is on top of the mountain.

Bishop won his 84th game as the goaltender of the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing in a manner that made you think of the first 83. Bishop stopped 31 of 32 shots as the Bolts struggled past Buffalo, 2-1, on Saturday. The win, even with a sloppy beginning, enabled the Lightning to break a two game losing streak.

“It’s great,” Bishop said. “ It’s an honor. This is a great organization, it’s been a pleasure to play for them so far, and hopefully we can set that number a little higher.”

The Lightning needed for Bishop to be sharp. Buffalo had 16 of the game’s first 19 shots in the opening period. For the Lightning, the penalty kill was a little better than it has been. Tampa Bay killed off all three penalties.

“Clearly, he was the best player on the ice,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said of Bishop. “We don’t win without him.”

The Lightning’s Alex Killorn broke a tie to give the Lightning its winning goal. Vladislav Namestnikov had earlier scored for Tampa Bay.

The Lightning now goes on a long road trip, visiting Nashville, Winnipeg, Chicago and St. Louis.

Gary Shelton is one of the most recognized and honored sportswriters in the history of the state. He has won the APSE's national columnist of the year twice and finished in the top 10 eight times. He was named the Florida Sportswriter of the Year six times. Gary joined SaintPetersBlog in the spring, helping to bring a sports presence to the website. Over his time in sports writing, Gary has covered 29 Super Bowls, 10 Olympics, Final Fours, Masters, Wimbledons and college national championships. He was there when the Bucs won a Super Bowl, when the Lightning won a Stanley Cup and when the Rays went to a World Series. He has seen Florida, FSU and Miami all win national championships, and he covered Bear Bryant, Bobby Bowden and Don Shula along the way. He and his wife Janet have four children: Eric, Kevin, K.C. and Tori. To contact, visit [email protected].