KHUDOBIN SHINING FOR STARS
Popular veteran goalie fills big shoes in Dallas stepping in for injured starter
The Dallas Stars were singing the praises of goaltender Anton Khudobin on Tuesday after he made 38 saves against the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-2 victory the night before.
Without Khudobin, Game 2 of the second-round series would likely have been out of reach for Dallas after the first period as the Avalanche outshot the Stars 20-6, but led only 1-0.
After being chosen in the seventh round of the 2004 NHL entry draft, Khudobin, 34, is finally getting a chance to start in the NHL post-season, earning his first career playoff win in the opening round against the Calgary Flames.
“We don’t make the playoffs last year without Doby (Khudobin),” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said on Tuesday. “He’s played very steady for us. He’s been great for us again this year. Before the pause, he was leading the league in save percentage.
“What we’re seeing, we’re not surprised. We’ve grown to expect stellar play from him from the moment we’ve signed him. He’s been consistent and we all know he’s a tremendous competitor in that net. The guys love playing in front of him and we know exactly what we’re going to get every night he plays.”
Khudobin signed with Dallas prior to the 2018-19 season to be a reliable backup for Ben Bishop. With Bishop injured, Khudobin has stepped in and carried the load for the Stars, who have taken a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 3 to be played on Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
“He’s been nothing but spectacular for us and just as important, consistent, very consistent game in and game out,” Bowness said. “When he’s been given the opportunity to play, he’s taken full advantage of it, which is what he’s doing now.”
Khudobin has played with Minnesota, the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes and Anaheim Ducks through his 12-year NHL career. The Kazakhstan product has been well liked everywhere he’s played, mainly due to his outgoing personality and quirky sense of humour.
“He’s a lot of fun to be around,” Bowness said. “He keeps the guys loose and you never know what’s going to come out of his mouth next, and with that Russian accent, he catches you off guard with his sense of humour. He’s been great on the ice for us, he’s been great off the ice for us. He’s a very popular teammate and has been a great signing for us.”
IMPORTANT ANNIVERSARY
Vegas Golden Knights forward Paul Stastny likely wouldn’t be in the NHL had it not been for his father Peter and uncle Anton defecting from Czechoslovakia in 1980 to join the Quebec Nordiques.
At the height of the Cold War, the two were able to able to slip away from the Czechoslovakian national team at a tournament in Austria and defect to Canada with the help of Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut and director of player personnel Gilles Leger.
Tuesday was the 40th anniversary of the Stastny brothers defecting from the now separated Czechoslovakia.
“He said it was early in the morning on this day (40 years ago),” Stastny said on Tuesday, prior to the Golden Knights facing the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2 of their second-round series at Rogers Place. “That’s something that anyone who doesn’t understand it ... taking a risk to leave his family and taking a chance with his wife who was nine months pregnant, to give myself and my brother and my two sisters a chance to live in freedom.”
Stastny, 34, is in his 15th NHL season. He played his first eight campaigns in Colorado, where the Nordiques franchise relocated in 1995. His father Peter played 15 years in the NHL with the Nordiques, New Jersey Devils
and St. Louis Blues, and was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998.
“We count our blessings every day,” Stastny said. “You ask him (Peter) and you ask Anton and their wives — my mom and my aunt — I think it was the biggest and best decision they ever made.”
AVALANCHE REGROUPING
Colorado is in a tough spot, down two games to Dallas going into Game 3, but they remain confident they can work themselves back into the series.
The Avalanche were favoured to win the series, but played poorly in Game 1 and continually shot themselves in the foot in Game 2, despite forward Nathan MacKinnon having another great game.
“Our top line has been great all year, especially in this series,” said Avalanche forward J.T. Compher. “Our depth guys, myself included, it’s time to look in the mirror and step up and produce.”
VETERAN STEPPING UP
Joe Pavelski scored 14 goals in 67 regular-season games for Dallas this year, but has turned up his game in the playoffs with seven goals in 11 games.
The longtime San Jose Sharks star signed with Dallas as an unrestricted free agent a year ago and the move is paying dividends in the post-season.
“He’s a veteran player who has been around for a while, has a lot of playoff experience, and knows how hard it is to win and what it takes to win,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said on Tuesday. “He’s gotten close in the past, and I think this time of year, players step up and take their game to another level, and he’s one of our leaders in that group and I think you’re seeing it on the ice.”