Vegas Golden Knights: 4 bugaboos that proved to be the downfall in WCF

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Anton Khudobin #35 of the Dallas Stars makes the save against Alec Martinez (not pictured) of the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

1. Khudobin the Unstoppable

There are many key ingredients that go into a Stanley Cup winning team.

Chief among them is a hot goaltender.

Arguably the most important position in pro sports alongside the Quarterback in Football, you can’t be successful in the NHL unless you have good goaltending.

And you have no chance at winning the greatest prize in all of sports unless you have a goalie who can steal a game or two in each series.

The Dallas Stars had all of that and more in Anton Khudobin, who wasn’t even the franchise’s No.1 netminder heading into The Bubble in Edmonton.

That distinction belonged to Ben Bishop but, ruled Unfit To Play for the vast majority of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the burden and all of the workload fell on Khudobin.

And boy did he deliver.

Anton Khudobin #35 of the Dallas Stars celebrates an overtime series win against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first overtime period in Game Five of the Western Conference Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

While solid but not great in the Second Round against the Colorado Avalanche, Khudobin found another gear and really played like an All-Star throughout the Western Conference Final against the Golden Knights.

He pitched a shutout with a 25-save performance in Game 1, letting Vegas know exactly what to expect.

But it just got better and better from that point on.

Khudobin had to make at least 30 saves in each of the next four games of the series, including 40 in Game 3, and his heroics between the pipes led the Stars to three consecutive wins to take the series in five.

Granted, the Russian had a lot of help from his defense who did a superb job of taking away screens and rebounds from the Golden Knights, but he still made a boatload of huge saves at key moments to backstop his team all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

If Anton Khudobin can muster up another run of games like he had in the Western Conference Final, then don’t be surprised to see the Dallas Stars lift the Stanley Cup in a couple of weeks.

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