June 10--Asked, won't tell. That has been the Lightning's company line in regard to goalie Ben Bishop's top-secret health status.
Asked, won't dwell. That has been the Blackhawks' response to the Lightning's response.
Two days after twice being pulled during the third period, Bishop started, finished and never left the ice while making 36 saves Monday during a 3-2 victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at the United Center. Earlier in the day, Bishop and Lightning coach Jon Cooper had remained steadfastly coy about the 6-foot-7 goalie's status.
Nothing changed Tuesday, a day after Bishop looked wobbly at times but held up enough to help his team take a 2-1 series lead.
"Was he in pain?" Brian Boyle asked while grinning at teammate Brenden Morrow.
Cooper insisted that Bishop would not be used as a pawn and that he wasn't ready to comment about his goalie's status for Game 4 on Wednesday.
"Actually, I haven't seen Ben today, so I don't know," Cooper said Tuesday morning. "I trust our trainers. You don't want guys to play injured. If they're out there, they have the ability to play."
What the Hawks saw Monday was a vulnerable goalie of whom they did not take advantage. Coach Joel Quenneville said after the game that Bishop "looks like he's got some issues."
"I wasn't paying attention to it as much," Hawks defenseman Brent Seabrook said. "I don't know if I just didn't see it or what.
"You want to continue to do the things that we do -- get bodies to the net, get pucks there, try to get good looks, get it moving a little bit, shooting pucks."
Johnny be good? Hawks defenseman Johnny Oduya played just 16 minutes, 47 seconds Monday, almost eight minutes fewer than his average of 24:45. He left the bench during the second period with an upper-body injury and played sparingly in the third.
Quenneville said Oduya "looked all right" Tuesday but would be reassessed Wednesday.
What's up, 'Doc'? Mike "Doc" Emrick was watching baseball games with his wife, Joyce, in Florida when his phone rang.
"Hi, Mike, Vin Scully," Emrick said, doing a spot-on Scully. "What? Vin Scully's got my number and he's calling me?"
The Hall of Fame baseball broadcaster was calling to inform Emrick, a three-time Emmy winner, that Scully had chosen him to receive the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting.
He will be presented with the award Nov. 2 in New York.
Fleeting lead: The Hawks have led for only 6:19 during the Stanley Cup Final. Thirteen of those seconds elapsed after Brandon Saad put them up 2-1 with 15:46 left in the third period Monday. That evaporated quickly when Ondrej Palat scored.
rwalker@tribpub.com
