Bishop, Khudobin help Stars cool off Flames to end skid

The Dallas Stars are back home and back in the win column.
The Stars snapped a four-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. Dallas, which was trying to get back on track after an 0-4-0 road trip, ran its home winning streak to five games.
"We knew before the game that it was going to be a big game for us and we needed to be ready from the get-go," said Stars defenseman Roman Polak. "I think we showed a team effort for the full 60 minutes tonight and everybody contributed.
"Everybody did their part in the game."

The Stars, who improved to 17-14-3 on the season, got off to a strong start Tuesday, dominating the first period and grabbing a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jamie Benn. The Stars were strong again in the second, and a goal by Radek Faksa pushed the lead to 2-0.
Goaltenders Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin combined on a 24-save shutout, with Bishop making 21 saves and Khudobin three. It was the first combined shutout in Stars/North Stars franchise history.

Bishop left the game for a short time, heading to the locker room in the second period to go into the NHL's concussion protocol after getting hit behind the net by Calgary forward Garnet Hathaway. Bishop was cleared and returned for the third period.
"The league called it in, so we had to go in and do the test, to go through those motions," Bishop said. "And I passed it and was able to get back out in the third."
The Stars' recent road trip wrapped up a stretch where they played 17 of their 24 games away from home over 49 days. Tuesday began a stretch that will see them play seven of their next nine games and 14 of the next 20 at home, where they are now 11-3-1.
"We were on the road for 32 of 50 [days], not that that's an excuse, but it was great to be home," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "We had two days off where everyone got to say hi to their kids, their wives and got to enjoy the great weather here in Dallas. You come with a new, refreshed mentality, and I think it showed right from the start, we were a different team."
The Flames (22-11-2) had a three-game winning streak snapped and lost in regulation for just the second time in their last 12 games (9-2-1).
"We were poor early, didn't win any faceoffs, therefore, never had the puck and that's where you see the discrepancy in the shot count," said Flames coach Bill Peters.

The Stars rolled out a strong first period, outshooting the Flames 12-4 and tallying the only goal of the opening 20 minutes. After coming close on chances by Valeri Nichushkin, who was stopped by Flames goalie David Rittich, and Miro Heiskanen, who hit the post, the Stars finally broke through with a goal by the top line. Tyler Seguin centered the puck from near the goal line, and it deflected in the net off Benn at the 12:15 mark to the Stars up 1-0.
The Stars had more chances early in the second period but couldn't cash in. The Stars had a couple of power play chances in the period, the second one coming when Hathaway knocked down Bishop behind the Dallas net, drawing the ire of Benn and others. Hathaway was given a minor for goaltender interference. Bishop stayed in the game for a while but then was replaced by Khudobin, who came up with a big save on Calgary's T.J. Brodie a little more than a minute later to keep the Stars up 1-0.
The Stars were able to extend the lead to 2-0 late in the second when Faksa picked off the rebound of a Martin Hanzal shot and made a nice move in front of the net to slip a backhand shot past Rittich at the 17:17 mark.
"There were two guys going with [Hanzal], so I tried to go to the net," Faksa said, "and it bounced over to me, and I saw the goalie went for the poke check and I got kind of lucky I made it."
Hathaway drew the ire of the Stars for a second time in the game 75 seconds later when he hit Seguin behind the play, knocking the Dallas center to the ice. Stars defenseman Polak went after Hathaway this time and ended up with a roughing penalty that the Stars efficiently killed off.
Bishop was back in goal to start the third. Calgary made a push, outshooting the Stars 12-2 in the final period, but it couldn't cut into the Stars' advantage. Bishop's best save of the period came on a shot off the stick of Calgary captain Mark Giordano with just under eight minutes left.

Turning point

The Stars got off to a strong start, building an 8-1 shots advantage buy the 6:44 mark of the first period and they had a 12-3 shots advantage by the time Seguin's centering pass went into the net off Benn to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.
After Saturday's brutal start in Colorado, where the Stars fell behind 3-0 and could have been down 5-0 if not for two overturned goals on replay reviews, Tuesday's start was exactly what they needed as looked to end their four-game skid and get off to a good start to this home-heavy portion of their schedule.

Three stars of the game

Ben Bishop, Dallas:Solid performance in stopping all 21 shots to combine with Anton Khudobin for the shutout of the Flames.
Esa Lindell, Dallas:Stars defenseman logged a game-high 27:32 and recorded a game-high six shots on goal.
Radek Faksa, Dallas: Stars forward made the move from center to wing, played a solid game and scored a slick goal to push the Dallas lead to 2-0.

They said it

"I liked our start. I thought right from the start we were playing with mojo. I thought our forecheck was really good, our reload by our forwards and [defensemen] with five guys in the picture together led to turnovers and easy breakouts, which allowed us to, I thought, in the first two periods, overwhelm them in five-on-five." - Stars coach Jim Montgomery
"I thought we did a good job kind of controlling the game. We didn't get into that run-and-gun game. There was a couple of shifts there in the third where they had us in, but we did a good job of responding and kind of holding the fort there. Kind of one of those bend don't break mentalities." - Stars goaltender Ben Bishop
"It was good. The guys made it easy on me because I hadn't played wing for so long; especially, [Stars forward Martin Hanzal], he told me what to do and where to go, and it made it a lot easier. I felt pretty good today." - Stars forward Radek Faksa on moving to the wing for the game

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Fast facts

What's next

The Stars are scheduled to practice at StarCenter Frisco on Wednesday, and then they'll take on the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday at American Airlines Center in the first meeting of the season between the two teams.

Stars lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Denis Gurianov
Radek Faksa - Martin Hanzal - Tyler Pitlick
Valeri Nichushkin - Devin Shore - Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark - Jason Dickinson - Blake Comeau
Esa Lindell - Miro Heiskanen
Gavin Bayreuther - Roman Polak
Joel Hanley - Taylor Fedun
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Julius Honka, Brett Ritchie
Injured:Jason Spezza (illness), John Klingberg (hand), Connor Carrick (foot), Marc Methot (knee), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.