Khabibulin shaky, but still winner

He knows he's not at top of his game, but two victories may solve that problem.

By TOM JONES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 17, 2003

WASHINGTON -- The Lightning has won two out of four playoff games, and its rock, goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, hasn't brought his A-game yet.

Heck, he hasn't even brought his B-game.

Khabibulin turned in what might have been the shakiest 22-save, one-goal-allowed performance in Stanley Cup history Wednesday as the Lightning beat Washington 3-1 in Game 4.

The Bulin Wall, as he is called, looked ready to crack at any second. He juggled pucks. He gave up juicy rebounds. One time, he fell down with no one around him, for crying out loud. Another time, he simply dropped his stick for no apparent reason.

Yet when it was over, Khabibulin had the one thing, the only thing, that counted: a W.

"That's all that matters," he said quietly. "We won."

In hockey, all they ask a goalie is how many saves, not how he made them. Good thing. Even Khabibulin had trouble defining his performance.

When asked, he offered a long pause, a stare into the ground, and then said, "Well, we did a good job as a team. We didn't give up a lot of shots. The defense blocked a lot of shots. And they cleared away the rebounds. We played well."

Khabibulin struggled in the first three games. He allowed three goals in Game 1, six in Game 2, and three more in Game 3. Only a couple could be labeled as "unstoppable." He gave up more soft goals in those three games than he usually gives up in a month.

As one mediocre goal followed another, the whispers got louder: "Khabibulin has never won a playoff series, you know."

Coming into Wednesday's game, he was 11-15 in the playoffs. He knows he's not on top of his game now, but he fought through a difficult Game 3 and survived the winner.

"The rest of the guys picked him up in Game 3 and that's what a team does -- it picks one another up," coach John Tortorella said. "Hey, listen, Nik has picked the rest of the team up plenty of times. We're all in this together."

Khabibulin, like all goaltenders, struggles from time to time with confidence. What usually snaps them out of their doldrums is a victory, even in a mediocre effort. That happened to Khabibulin earlier this season when an uneven victory against Boston on Feb. 15 -- one that included giving up a horrendous tying goal in the third period -- set him on a 16-game unbeaten streak.

The Lightning thinks a pair of victories in this series might do the same.

"Nik has won two games and that's how he has regained his confidence," Tortorella said.

And maybe his effort Wednesday wasn't as bumpy as it appeared. "He made some big saves," Tortorella said.

"I thought he played a great game," Lightning defenseman Cory Sarich said. "He was screened all night and he made some big saves when I'm sure he couldn't get a clear view at the puck. I thought he did an unbelievable job."

Khabibulin preferred not to rate his game. It's a win, he said. Just a win.

And does he feel his best game of the series is yet to come?

"We'll see," he said. "We'll see."