MIDNIGHT STRIKES
Cinderella story may be over for Stars netminder Khudobin after disastrous Game 3
It was not yet midnight when Anton Khudobin sat down and spoke with reporters after getting pulled in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.
As the questions came, the Dallas Stars goalie began touching his face.
He rubbed his eyes. He used his fingers to part his thinning hair and stroked his seven-week old playoff beard. He cupped his chin in his hands. Maybe it was a nervous tick. Or maybe, Khudobin was trying to make sure he hadn't turned into a pumpkin.
More and more, it's looking that way for this year's Cinderella story.
Heading into the Stanley Cup final, Khudobin had been one of the favourites to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. But after allowing eight goals in his last two games — including five goals on 29 shots in Game 3 on Wednesday — he is now looking like a career backup who had previously never made a post-season start.
“Was it Cinderella striking midnight or Tampa's potent offence giving them a chance to get to the goaltender?” asked TSN hockey analyst and former NHL goalie Jamie McLennan. “I think it's a bit of both. You're seeing goals like Brayden Point's, where it's a seam pass going back and forth. There's not much that Khudobin can do on that. But in previous series, he makes those saves.”
Well, against Vegas in the conference final he made those saves.
As much of a feel-good story as the 34-year-old has been during these playoffs, it's easy to forget that he hasn't been as consistent in his play as the narrative surrounding his unlikely rise to stardom has made it out to be.
Khudobin hasn't been as consistent as Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy. He didn't single-handedly lead Dallas to the final. He probably wouldn't even be playing right now if the Stars' No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop were healthy.
Khudobin, who wasn't in net to start the post-season and then temporarily lost his job after losing Game 1 in the first round, was just OK in a first-round win against Calgary. He then managed to outlast Colorado's thirdstring goalie in a seven-game series with a paltry .899 save percentage. It wasn't until the conference final when Khudobin actually stood on his head, allowing eight goals and posting a .950 save percentage in five games against the Golden Knights.
Of course, Tampa Bay is not Vegas.
The Golden Knights did not have a top line that included Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat, who have combined for 28 goals. They certainly did not have a Norris Trophy defenceman like Victor Hedman, who became just the third defenceman in NHL history to score 10 goals in the playoffs. Or a fourth-line winger who can shoot the puck like Steven Stamkos.
Only three other teams averaged more goals per game than the Lightning has in the playoffs. It might not be a coincidence that two of those teams — Colorado and Calgary — also padded their stats against Khudobin.
Now, it's Tampa Bay's turn to open the floodgates.
“I don't want to be disrespectful, but his game has come down to what we thought of him,” said McLennan, who was also a career backup. “Before, he was making outrageous saves and getting puck luck. Now it's a scenario where he isn't getting those favourable bounces and his game has dropped off a little bit. Let's see if he can get it back.”
In Game 1 of against Tampa Bay, Khudobin stopped 35 of 36 shots in a 4-1 win. But he has stopped 52 of 60 shots in the five periods that followed, dropping his save percentage from .950 in the conference final to .906 in the final. With Games 4 and 5 being played on back-to-back nights, the veteran goalie is going to be tested like he's never been tested before.
“I don't know. I don't know what happen,” Khudobin said after Game 3's loss. “But we'll figure it out. We're going to talk tomorrow about it. Right now, we just keep moving forward. We'll figure it out tomorrow.”
What's to figure out? Khudobin isn't
Vasilevskiy. He's not a firstround pick or a Vezina Trophy winner. He's a journeyman who spent the past 12 years bouncing around between five NHL teams, four AHL teams and two ECHL teams — who this year appeared in as many regular season games as Vasilevskiy has played in the playoffs.
It's not fair to expect him to steal games. You just hope that he can stop the bleeding.
Even that might be difficult if Dallas keeps putting Tampa Bay on the power play and giving up breakaways to Kucherov.
That was the most concerning aspect of Game 3. It's not that Khudobin played poorly. He wasn't taken out of the game because of his performance. If anything, it was a mercy pulling.
“He's been solid, he's been consistent. He's done everything you want your starting goaltender to do to give you a chance to win your game,” said Stars head coach Rick Bowness. “So he doesn't have to do anything better. He doesn't have to do anything different. He just has to keep doing what he's doing.
“In terms of our team, it would help him a lot if we didn't make it so easy for the other team to play against us sometimes.”
They better. If not, the next sound you hear will be the clock striking midnight. Not just for Khudobin, but for the entire Dallas Stars.