When you play as many playoff games as the Stars have in the last two months, some themes are bound to repeat themselves.
Welcome back to goaltending uncertainty.
As the Stanley Cup Final trudges into Game 4 on Friday night with Tampa Bay holding a 2-1 edge on the Stars, it will do so with Game 5 looming right behind it Saturday night. It’s a rare back to back in the Cup Final, and one scheduled to finish the playoffs as quickly as possible since the NHL is footing the bill for hotel rooms and daily coronavirus testing.
It leaves the Stars with a decision to make, just as they had in the second round against Colorado.
Against the Avalanche, Anton Khudobin started Game 4 and staked Dallas to a 3-1 series lead. Ben Bishop made a surprise return from injury in Game 5 the next day and was shelled for four goals in less than 14 minutes.
Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said the decision was heavily influenced by the back to back, and the fact that Bishop told the coaching staff he was ready to play. Before that game, Bishop had missed eight games because of injury. He hasn’t dressed in the 10 games since.
On Thursday afternoon, Bowness said Bishop remained unfit to play, but the regular-season No. 1 has been practicing with the team for weeks in Edmonton. Bowness deflected questions about his goaltending situation for the weekend.
“Not worried about Saturday, worried about tomorrow,” Bowness said. “Saturday will take care of itself. We’ll be doing everything we can to win that game tomorrow. We do not want to fall down 3-1, so Saturday is a whole other discussion that we’ll have after Friday. Right now, Saturday is the least of our concerns.”
Since the Stars clearly weren’t comfortable starting Khudobin on consecutive nights at the end of August, has the last month made them so?
“Just worried about tomorrow night,” Bowness said. “We’ll worry about Saturday when we get there.”
As the coach with the 34-year-old goaltender, how did he feel about the scheduling of the back to back?
“We will make decisions when we get there based on what will give our hockey club the best opportunity to win,” Bowness said.
Khudobin has allowed eight goals in the last two games, and he lost two straight starts for the first time since the first round against Calgary.
“He’s been solid,” Bowness said. “He’s been consistent. He’s been doing everything you want your starting goaltender to do to give you a chance to win the game. 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.”
The odds lean toward the Stars using Khudobin in both Games 4 and 5. Even if Bishop is healthy, do the Stars know what goalie they’ll be getting after a pair of subpar performances in the first and second round? And how could the Dallas coaching staff entrust these important games to a mystery box?
Whatever injury Bishop is dealing with is something that has lingered since the start of training camp in July, when he missed the first day of camp and also the last two days. Since arriving in Edmonton, Bishop has completed just two games: Aug. 3 against Vegas and Aug. 13 against Calgary.
Bishop could have given — and still might — the Stars a huge advantage in the Stanley Cup Final. Dallas was one of the few teams that suffered little dropoff between their two goalies this season, and with the condensed schedule, could have capitalized on back to backs. As opponents trotted out a subpar backup or a tired starter, the Stars could turn to Bishop one night, and Khudobin the other.
Khudobin has experience starting on consecutive nights, but like most goalies, his numbers suffer. Eight times Khudobin has started both ends of a back to back, and he’s posted a .900 save percentage and 3.06 goals against average in the second game. His career numbers are .919 and 2.46.
It’s a similar story for Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has started both ends seven times in his career, posting a .898 save percentage and 3.53 GAA in game two. His career numbers are .919 and 2.55.
In theory, the Stars could turn to rookie Jake Oettinger, but it’s tough to foresee Dallas turning to a 21-year-old with less than 37 minutes of NHL experience, especially in a potential elimination game Saturday.
“He’s had two periods,” Bowness said. “He hasn’t had a lot of work. That’s all we have to go on. We have all the faith in the world in Jake. He looks great in practice, and we know if his name is called, he’ll be ready to go. We have a lot of faith in him.”
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper already announced that Vasilevskiy would start Friday and likely would on Saturday.
“The back to backs in the playoffs can’t be judged the same way as back to backs can in the regular season, in my opinion,” Cooper said. “You’re taking travel out of it. Will things change if tomorrow goes into five overtimes? Who knows? There are aspects that we go through that have us make these decisions.”
Career numbers in second game when starting both ends of a back-to-back:
| Goalie | Games | Save % | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB | 7 | .8983 | 3.53 |
| Anton Khudobin, DAL | 8 | .8996 | 3.06 |
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