Goalie Ben Bishop is coming to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Lightning traded for the fourth-year netminder Wednesday, sending forward Cory Conacher and a fourth-round pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft to the Ottawa Senators, the team announced.
Bishop, selected by the St. Louis Blues in the third round — 85th overall — in the 2005 draft, played in 13 games with the Senators this season, his second in Ottawa. This year, he earned an 8-5 record with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage with one shutout. He has played in 36 career NHL games, posting a 15-13-3 mark and a goals-against average of 2.58 with a .911 save percentage.
“I am extremely excited to be part of the Lightning organization,” Bishop said in a release. “They have a lot of great players, and hopefully we can win a lot of hockey games this season and moving forward.”
Tampa Bay hopes Bishop helps with its goaltending woes. Entering Wednesday’s games, the Lightning rank No. 21 in goals-against average, surrendering 2.97 per contest.
Meanwhile, Conacher played in 35 games this season, his first with the Lightning, scoring nine goals and recording 24 points. He came to Tampa Bay as a free agent on July 5, 2011.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
