Lightning lose Ben Bishop for 3-4 weeks with lower-body injury

A tough first three months of the 2016-17 NHL season got even worse for the Tampa Bay Lightning with the news that netminder Ben Bishop will be out 3-4 weeks with a lower-body injury.

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Bishop suffered the injury in the first period of Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings after extending his leg to make a save.

Kristers Gudlevskis has been recalled from Syracuse to back up Andrei Vasilevskiy. In 12 starts this season Vasilevskiy has posted a .927 even strength save percentage and two shutouts.

As detailed on Raw Charge Tuesday, the injury bug has hit the Lightning hard of late, sidelining key players such as Bishop, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan. That’s $28.35 million in cap hits not on the ice and playing a role in Tampa’s 16-14-3 record, which has them currently just on the outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy