The Stars rode the hot hand.
Anton Khudobin started the Stars' 3-2 loss to Calgary on Tuesday afternoon, a minor surprise on the first day of the NHL's first round. Ben Bishop, who missed the previous two games with an injury, served as Khudobin's backup against the Flames.
Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said the decision to play Khudobin "was an easy decision," in part due to Bishop's injury status.
"Dobby's coming off of a big win and played very well," Bowness said. "Bish was unfit to play on Sunday and now he needs a couple days of practice. We're playing four games in 5 { days. We're going to need both goalies. But that was a pretty easy decision going into tonight with Dobby coming off a win against St. Louis and playing as well as he did. Giving Bish another couple of days to get ready to play."
Dillon Dube scored two first-period goals against Khudobin before Rasmus Andersson broke a 2-2 tie with the game winner at the 16:01 mark of the second period.
Denis Gurianov and Jamie Benn each scored a second-period goal for the Stars.
The Stars play Game 2 on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. CT, Game 3 on Friday at 9:30 p.m. and Game 4 on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Bishop and Khudobin figured to split the upcoming back-to-back regardless of who was in net on Monday, but the coaching staff's decision _ by both Bowness and goaltending coach Jeff Reese _ to go with Khudobin in Game 1 could signal a willingness to go with the goalie playing the best.
Usually during the playoffs, teams ride their No. 1 goalie as far as he will take them. For example, last year, the only action Khudobin saw in the postseason was when Bishop got hurt during Game 6 against the Blues. But the condensed schedule that includes back-to-backs may make the Stars approach series differently, rotating both goalies in and leaning on whichever one is playing better.
Khudobin led the league with a .930 save percentage in the regular season, and prevented the Stars' 4-0 loss to Colorado from being an eight-goal blowout (or more). He stopped the final 21 shots he faced against the Blues on Sunday.
Tuesday's game was technically Khudobin's third career postseason start, but the first two came in the round robin in the last week. It was his first playoff start in an elimination round.
A pending unrestricted free agent, Khudobin will be one of the team's highest offseason priorities (up there with figuring out the coaching situation and re-signing restricted free agents Gurianov, Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa). He will be one of the most sought after backup goalies, and should the Stars ask more from him this postseason, he may get some calls to be a starting goaltender elsewhere.
