TAMPA -- Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist, he said Thursday. Bishop sustained the injury prior to the All-Star break.
"I played with a cast on my wrist the whole second half of the year," Bishop said.
The injury was unrelated to the dislocated elbow Bishop sustained near the end of the regular season that forced him to miss the entire Eastern Conference First Round series against the Montreal Canadiens. Bishop was targeting a Game 6 comeback, but the Lightning were swept in four games.
The operation will take place next week and the wrist will be in a cast for six weeks followed by a two-month recovery period.
"It will take all summer but it needs to get fixed," Bishop said. "It's been a pain … I had to learn to play a different way."
In his first full season with the Lightning, the 27-year-old set career highs in games (63), wins (37), shutouts (five), goals-against average (2.23) and save percentage (.924).