Khudobin makes 43 saves, Stars blank Panthers to end six-game slide

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Anton Khudobin made 43 saves to help the Dallas Stars to their first win in seven games, 3-0 against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Wednesday.

The Stars (6-4-4) had been 0-3-3 since Feb. 2.
Khudobin made 49 saves in a 3-1 loss to Florida here Monday. The shutout was his second of the season and his 10th in the NHL.
"There have been good games in my career, there have been bad games in my career," Khudobin said. "So maybe this is one of the best. I don't know; I'm not looking at that. I'm just looking at the win."

Chris Driedger made 23 saves in his fifth start in six games for the Panthers (12-4-2). Florida was shut out for the first time this season.
"It wasn't the same as last game," Panthers forward Brett Connolly said. "They played a lot of better, and we didn't bring our best. We got what we deserved. We played well against them last game. [Khudobin] played well both games. He's a veteran goalie who played very well in the playoffs last year. He's obviously confident right now. In the league, you've got to respond."
Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle played his 884th consecutive game, tying Steve Larmer for the third-longest streak in NHL history. Doug Jarvis is first at 964, followed by Garry Unger at 914.
The teams finish the three-game set here Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-SW+, NHL.TV).
John Klingberg gave Dallas a 1-0 lead 53 seconds into the first period with a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle on a delayed penalty. It was his first goal in 10 games.
"If I have so much ice in front of me, I'm going to try and go rip it every time," the defenseman said. "I had a few of those chances in games before too, so it felt good to see it go in the net."

Esa Lindell made it 2-0 at 2:17 of the third period when he got a loose puck near the left face-off dot. Joel Kiviranta scored into an empty net at 16:26 for the 3-0 final.
"Obviously, this gives us a lot of confidence," Lindell said. "We know we've been working hard and doing what makes us successful. And we believe that the wins are going to come, and now today everything went quite well and we earned the win."
Florida outshot Dallas 43-26 after having an 52-25 edge Monday, when the Panthers set their record for shots in a period with 29 in the second.
"We broke through in the second period last game but were unable to do it today," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had some great looks. We were aggressive around [Khudobin's] net and challenging him. Give him some credit. We expect the goalies to be good both ways every single night. Goalies can win games at times."
NOTES: Stars forward Roope Hintz was scratched before warmups because of a lower-body injury. … Dallas did not play from Feb. 14-21 with four home games postponed because of extreme winter storms. … Stars center Joe Pavelski had two assists. ... Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling left the game with an undisclosed injury in the second period. … Yandle's streak began March 26, 2009. Jarvis' streak ran from Oct. 8, 1975 to Oct. 10, 1987, Unger's from Feb. 24, 1968 to Dec. 21, 1979, and Larmer's from Oct. 6, 1982 to April 15, 1993.