TAMPA — Goalie Ben Bishop tried to treat his playoff debut Thursday as any other game but admitted to feeling some nerves.
In his second start Saturday, Bishop felt comfortable on the ice again and delivered a bounce-back performance in the Lightning's 5-1 win.
"Obviously a little bit nervous last game," said Bishop, who had 23 saves. "(Saturday) was a lot better — night and day, almost."
And the confidence and success came in part due to a more active first period.
Bishop faced only 14 shots in the series opener and let three of them through. Although the Red Wings only had one shot in the game's first 16 minutes Saturday and at one point wasted 15:36 between shots, Bishop couldn't sit back and stiffen up.
Even if the shots weren't coming to him, Detroit spent more time in the Lightning's defensive zone and forced Bishop to stay sharp by moving to the puck. Tampa Bay helped the 28-year-old out by blocking 18 shots in the first two periods.
"(Thursday) they were barely in the zone," Bishop said. "(Saturday) they were in the zone, buzzing. I was able to stay focused a little bit easier."
Bishop carried a shutout into the third period until Detroit's Tomas Tatar redirected Kyle Quincey's shot into the net with 14 minutes left. Quincey backhanded a shot 18 seconds later, but Bishop stopped it to keep the Red Wings from getting any closer.
"He was in it early," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You could just tell with every save he was getting better and better and better."
Bishop's rebound was typical for him; he had only two regulation losing streaks during the entire regular season, when he set a franchise record with 40 wins.
His play was nonetheless a stark contrast to what happened with Detroit. Red Wings rookie Petr Mrazek starred Thursday with 44 saves but was pulled Saturday after giving up four goals in the first two periods.
"Their goalie was better tonight," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.
Bishop didn't change his routine after Thursday's game, sticking to the same plan rituals he's had for years. And after watching the film, he didn't see much he needed to change, either, aside from replaying the final goal he allowed.
"The way I played, I didn't do anything drastically different or wrong," Bishop said. "I just wanted to come in and play the same way as I did in Game 1 and obviously got a better result tonight."
Contact Matt Baker at mbaker@tampabay.com. Follow @MBakerTBTimes.