Stars not feeling panic as Bishop deals with another injury

CALGARY, Alberta --Wednesday night was a scary night for Stars fans.
It's OK to admit it, you know how it felt when Ben Bishop hurt himself and had to leave the game. You know the fear.
But when you watched this team battle through to take a 2-1 win against the Calgary Flames, it also was a reassuring night.
It can be both, that's part of the fun of this whole sports fandom thing.

First the bad. Bishop's injury with 6:38 remaining in the second period was ... well ... haunting.
He went down in the splits, tweaked something, and did not get back up. He visited with the trainers, tested a few things, and then came out of the game. He is listed as day-to-day.
There's a very good chance it's something small, manageable. After all, Bishop missed just two games a couple of weeks ago with a lower-body injury, came right back in and looked good in going 2-1-0 while allowing six goals in three games. He looked great to start the game at Calgary.
He's looked great pretty much all year.

That's why all of this injury stuff is so nerve-wracking. For all of the good play of Anton Khudobin this season, the team has a losing record while he is in goal. And that's with a 2.53 GAA and a .924 save percentage.
It's just different.
Maybe it's how Bishop handles the puck. Maybe it's just the fact that this is a hard-scoring team, and Bishop is just a tick better in most games. Maybe it's just luck.
But it's really difficult to not think about last year when Bishop was sailing along and then hurt his knee. It's really difficult to not think about the 0-7-1 stretch that dropped the Stars out of the playoffs. It's really difficult to not think about déjà vu all over again.
And that's where you were Wednesday night as you got the report that Bishop's return was questionable, as you watched the replay of him on his knees in obvious pain, as you replayed last season.
The Stars' players who were here last year were sort of in the same place. Captain Jamie Benn said the players talked among themselves on the bench.
"We had about three minutes to regroup and refocus," Benn said. "There was a lot of talk on the bench at that time. We wanted to play hard for Dobby."
They did just that. They came in and were the better team to finish out the second period and hold onto a 1-0 lead. They were a team with a real purpose.

Stars head coach Jim Montgomery wasn't here last season, so he didn't experience the collapse. But he also knows the importance of Bishop, who will likely be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy this season. So it would be OK if he joined the fans in feeling that "uh-oh moment" when Bishop gets hurt.
He said he doesn't.
"I never feel an `Uh oh' when Bish comes out, and that's because we have Anton Khudobin," Montgomery said. "We have two great goalies, we're very, very fortunate."
Khudobin ranks eighth in the NHL in save percentage and 15th in goals against average. He has been that good. So the fact he still has a losing record is confusing and troublesome.
But he picked up the win Wednesday to move to 14-16-4, and that helped.
"I get the win?" Khudobin asked, unsure of the procedure when you come on in relief. "I'll take it."
He laughed, but added that the losses do upset him.
"Most important thing is the wins, and I know I have more losses than wins, but it's a team sport and I try to focus on my job and do best as I can," he said. "I'm not happy with it, don't get me wrong. Do I feel bad, yes, but you have to keep moving."

He has, and he has earned the respect and support of his teammates because of it. So when he starts Thursday at Edmonton and possibly Saturday at Vancouver, everyone will be confident in his ability.
They also have confidence in their own ability. While they were outshot 36-23 against the Flames, they won a lot of puck battles, they defended well, they made key plays and expanded their lead to 2-0 in the third period.
"We're playing a good brand of hockey right now," Montgomery said of how the team is helping the goalies. "They know where shots are coming form, and for the most part we're taking care of the back side. They're making the saves where they are called upon, and we're not asking them to make secondary saves sprawling out."
Alexander Radulov had a coast-to-coast, power-play goal, one of the best individual efforts of the year. Jason Spezza had three shots on goal and played a role in Miro Heiskanen's power-play marker that proved to be the game-winner. Blake Comeau, Andrew Cogliano, Jason Dickinson, Radek Faksa and Mattias Janmark were among the forwards who were all over the ice.
It was a continuation of the improving team play this team has exhibited over the past two weeks. It was a display of the hunger they have to make the playoffs.
"You can tell by the way he's talking on the bench -- he wants to make the playoffs, and that permeates throughout the team," Montgomery said when asked about Radulov's intensity. "Cogliano is talking about that stuff, Roman Polak, Comeau -- it's a real good intensity, and there's a calmness to us, as well."
And while you have every right to be scared this morning, that bit of revelation has to give you a little bit of reassurance, as well.
It can be both, y'know -- that's part of being a fan.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.