Ben Bishop is having a career year, and now he can add a history-making moment to the memories.
After clean-sheeting teams three games in a row, Ben Bishop came into the game versus the Minnesota Wild tonight with more than 200 minutes played without allowing a goal, dating back to the second period against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, March 3rd. Shutouts of the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, and Buffalo Sabres, combined with an easy workload first period against the Wild, Bishop broke the franchise record for minutes without allowing a goal by a goaltender.
His shutout streak has now reached 224:20 — and going.
Ed Belfour, the Stars icon who backstopped the 1999 team to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history, had previously held the record at 219:26. Belfour’s shutout streak ranks 34th in NHL history all time. That means that Bishop could not only make some franchise history tonight, he’ll find himself in the league record books for his own shutout.
A fourth consecutive no-goal game for Bishop tonight would catapult his shutout streak into the 9th longest such streak in the league at roughly 260 minutes. How likely that is to happen, though, is likely pretty slim. That’s because the Wild, sitting outside a Wild Card playoff spot by just one point, is desperate for a win tonight to put themselves back into playoff position. The Stars, on the other hand, are trying to add some cushion between themselves and the pack of teams fighting it out for the Wild Card spots in the West.
That means two teams with plenty of motivation to get points out of the contest tonight.
The Stars in front of Bishop did their part to help Bishop hit this accomplishment. He’s playing behind one of the stingiest defenses in the league right now. The first period in tonight’s game that allowed him to set the franchise shutout record was one of his least challenging periods in a while. The team knew what was at stake, and had a good start on the road in a big Central Division matchup to help their netminder get there.
The question is how long can they make it last?