It is extraordinary enough that two former University of Maine goaltenders squared off in the same National Hockey League game on Tuesday night.
But it defies all odds that both would be knocked out of the game with injuries.
Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings and Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning each suffered an apparent leg injury and could not continue during the game at Tampa, Florida.
According to an SBN nation report, Bishop was hurt on a routine play just past the midway mark of the first period. He had stretched his leg out in reacting to a shot that went wide, according to the report, but immediately went down in discomfort.
Bishop skated off the ice under his own power, the report said. It wasn’t known Wednesday the severity of the injury, although Bishop has had a history of leg injuries the past couple of seasons.
However, he demonstrated his toughness back on Oct. 25 when he took a shot to the mask that knocked out his top two front teeth. He remained in the game and the Lightning won 7-3.
Howard, meanwhile, is expected to miss an extended amount of time after being hurt in the second period of Tuesday’s contest, according to a MichiganLive.com report.
The team placed him on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, according to the report, and it’s unclear how long Howard will be out.
He was hurt after the Red Wings’ Nick Jensen and Tampa Bay’s Erik Condra crashed into him.
Howard was having a solid season, posting the NHL’s fourth-best save percentage (.934) and sixth-best goals-against average (1.34).
Bishop has posted a 2.79 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
Tuesday’s game was a rematch of an Eastern Conference first-round series that pitted Howard’s Red Wings against Bishop’s Lightning last spring, a series won by Tampa Bay in five games.
Tampa Bay won Tuesday night’s game 4-1.
