5 Takeaways: Khudobin Stands Tall as Stars Blank Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Panthers threw everything but the kitchen sink at the net tonight.
And even if they had thrown the sink, Anton Khudobin likely would have made the save.
With the veteran goaltender turning aside all 43 shots that came his way, the Stars managed to snap a six-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the Panthers at BB&T Center on Wednesday.

"I thought we had some great looks at him," coach Joel Quenneville said of Khudobin, who made 49 saves in a 3-1 loss to Florida on Monday. "He was very aggressive around his net as far as seeing pucks and challenging. The traffic was permitting him to do what he wanted to do, but we did have some great looks. Our shot selection tonight was ordinary, but give him credit."
With the extra attacker on the ice following a delayed penalty on the Panthers, John Klingberg opened the scoring for the Stars when he blasted a slap shot from beyond the right circle that flew just under Chris Driedger's blocker to make it 1-0 just 53 seconds into the opening period.
Coming off an outstanding performance on Monday, Khudobin was on top of his game from the get-go again tonight. After making 17 saves in the first period, the 34-year-old veteran stood just as tall in the second, gobbling up all 14 of the shots that the Panthers fired off toward the cage.
Eliciting a lot of groans from the home crowd, Khudobin's most impressive sequence came at the midway point of the middle frame. After denying Carter Verhaeghe's initial scoring attempt, he then sprawled out to rob Verhaeghe once again as he followed-up on his own rebound. Not done there, he capped off the flurry of saves with a short-side stop on Aleksander Barkov.
"I like the push and the shove and the team responding to do what we can to try and find a way, but it didn't happen," Quenneville said. "Obviously, you want to get points and you want to win. We're in a competitive division. [The Stars] knows how to win. They had a good response."
Feeding of Khudobin's saves in the second period, the Stars doubled their lead early in the third when Esa Lindell sent a puck past Driedger just as their power play expired to make it 2-0 2:17.
In desperate need of a goal late in the game, the Panthers pulled Driedger in favor of getting a 6-on-4 advantage on their power play. Unfortunately, the Stars would end up being the ones to capitalize, as Joel Kiviranta cashed in on the empty net to make it 3-0 with 3:34 left on the clock.
With the loss, Florida now sits at 12-4-2, while Dallas improved to 6-4-4.
The two teams will meet again in a rubber match on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
"That's the NHL," forward Brett Connolly said. "There are good teams and you're going to have nights like this. Obviously, it's disappointing. No one is happy with that. But we've played really good this year and really well last game against them. It's a three-game series. We're looking to bounce back tomorrow. We'll watch some tape, see what we did right, see what we did wrong."
Here are five takeaways from Wednesday's loss in Sunrise…

1. PLAYING THE HITS

The Stars clearly had a game plan for the first period - come out swinging.
Looking to re-establish themselves after getting manhandled during a 3-1 loss to the Panthers on Monday, the Stars were throwing the body every chance they could, dishing out a whopping 26 hits over the opening 20 minutes tonight. By comparison, Dallas had 32 hits all of last game.
"I think we expected it," Connolly said. "They were physical early, and they were ready to go. I think we were ready to play, but for whatever reason we weren't as crisp as we were in the past games. You get behind in this league, it's tough to crawl back. Yeah, they played hard."
Pushing back as the game went on, Florida ended up winning the hits battle 42-38. Of those 42 hits - which were just two fewer than the team's season-high - eight came from tough-as-nails defenseman Radko Gudas, who increased his NHL-leading hit total to 98 in the process.

2. KHUDOBIN CRASHES THE PARTY

A game removed from matching a career-high with 49 saves, Khudobin was in the zone once again tonight, denying every single shot that came his way en route to a 43-save shutout win.
"He played well both games," Connolly said. "Give him credit. He battles. He's a veteran goalie who's obviously played very well last year in the playoffs and is confident right now. We threw a lot of pucks at him and had some chances. It is what it is. It's a tough league. There are good teams, good players, good goalies. We need to respond and get a big win tomorrow."

Of Khudobin's 43 saves, eight came from high-danger areas on the ice (like the ones seen in the above tweet). Staying calm and collected while facing down Florida's lethal power play, he also made eight saves on the penalty kill. At the other end of the ice, Driedger also had another nice showing in defeat for the Panthers, stopping 23 of 25 shots for a .920 save percentage.
"Goalies can win games at times," Quenneville said. "You get some goalie wins our way, and you can get beat by some goalie wins like tonight. I think their goalie was pretty good, but I still thought it was a pretty even game."

3. A NUMBERS GAME

Outside of the final score, the numbers really favored the Panthers tonight.
And even though they weren't able to get anything past Khudobin, it wasn't for a lack of trying. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, Florida finished the game with sizeable advantages in shots on goal (43-26), shot attempts (67-42), high-danger shot attempts (11-6) and scoring chances (29-16).
On most nights, those kinds of offensive numbers will usually get you in the win column.
"I feel like we were creating chances and had good opportunities," forward Alex Wennberg said of the team's attack. "Today wasn't our day, and it is what it is. You can't think too deep on this one and get upset about it. You've just got to forget this game and focus on the next one."

4. FORSLING EXITS EARLY

Gustav Forsling went down the tunnel in the second period of tonight's game and did not return.
Only recently returning from an elongated stint on the injured reserve list while dealing with an upper-body injury, Forsling, who was claimed on waivers from the Hurricanes in January, has appeared in eight games with the Panthers, registering 10 blocks while skating 15:50 per night.
After the game, there were no immediate updates on the 24-year-old defenseman's status.
"We'll see," Quenneville said. "We'll find out more in the morning."

5. RUBBER MATCH IN SUNRISE

The Panthers won't have to wait long to move past tonight's defeat.
After splitting the first two games of their three-game series, the Panthers and Stars will meet again in less than 24 hours for a rubber match at BB&T Center on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Making a habit out of bouncing back, the Panthers are 5-0-0 following losses this season.
"You've got to respond right away," Connolly said. "You can't let losses accumulate. You've got to stop the bleeding right away. Tomorrow is a huge game. We need to respond. We're going to get the exact same Dallas Stars team tomorrow. They're obviously hungry for points as well."
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