Lightning's Ben Bishop: Says he's ready to return

Bishop (lower body) has declared himself fit to play, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Analysis:

This doesn't necessarily mean that Bishop will start Thursday; if not, perhaps he'll return in Friday's game against the Blue Jackets. Bishop has missed the past nine games with his ailment, and the Bolts have stormed away with only three wins in that span. There was certainly no shortage of attention on the big netminder after the team saw interim starter Andrei Vasilveskiy yield six goals on 40 shots to the Penguins on Sunday, stretching his losing skid to four games. Still, it would be wise to see how Bishop fares in his next couple of starts before activating him in fantasy land -- he's 9-10-2 with a uncharacteristically low .907 save rate through 22 games this season.