Jamie Benn And Kari Lehtonen Must Carry The Dallas Stars
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars shocked a majority of the hockey universe when they stymied the St. Louis Blues last night by a bamboozling final score of 4-1.
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This win comes off of a painful 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, one that had many Dallas Stars fans packing up and waving goodbye to the 2014-2015 playoff hunt. Without the services of Tyler Seguin, Patrick Eaves, and Ales Hemsky, three of the Stars top six forwards, the Dallas Stars were able to dominate the second best team in the NHL. The main source of their dominating win came from the play of captain Jamie Benn and goaltender Kari Lehtonen.
Next: Jamie Benn Gets 1st Hat Trick, Dallas Stars Hammer Blues 4-1
These two players, who have both seen their fair share of slumps through this season, will need to be the load-bearers in the upcoming stretch if the Stars are looking to last and make their way into the playoff standings. You can name many other names as well, a hot one being Jason Spezza; but the Stars will mainly need to rely on these two to lead them through the intimidating postseason race.
“I put pressure on myself to step my game up, and I’ll do whatever it takes to help this team win.” -Jamie Benn
Jamie Benn has hit a bit of a hot streak over the last few games, and with his partner-in-crime gone for 2-5 more weeks, he must continue to produce quality numbers. Including his first career NHL hat trick Tuesday night, Benn has six goals and one assist along with a +5 on-ice rating in his last four games. He is riding a points streak and is finally shaping out to be the kind of captain that Dallas Stars fans have been searching for, if not better. Jamie Benn now has 22 goals and 32 assists on the year, and is one of only two Stars over 50 points on the season, the other being Seguin. Benn is now on the top line with two veterans in Jason Spezza and Erik Cole, and if the St. Louis game proved anything, it is that this line is on pace to wreak a lot of havoc. All in all, the 25-year old captain will need to give it his all every night in order to help the wins continue to drop.
“I try to go one game to another and try not to think about the past too much. It’s been going very well the past couple of weeks and hopefully I can keep it up.” -Kari Lehtonen
Kari Lehtonen can relate to the word struggle this season. After hitting a slump just a few games back where his numbers dropped to some of the worst in his 11-year NHL career and being called out by head coach Lindy Ruff, Lehtonen seems to have turned things around. After being called out after a 24 for 28 performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Lehtonen seems to have resumed focus. Over his last four starts, he is 4-0-0 with a 1.49 goals against average and a .959 save percentage. He has stopped 139 of 145 shots, and has a 37-save shutout against the Florida Panthers. His numbers continue to climb, and he is set to face some of the top offenses in the league over the rest of the week. His play over the next three or four games will be a large determining factor of where the Stars stand in the playoff race come next week.
The Dallas Stars sit just four points out of a playoff spot with two games in hand at the moment, but face a potentially hazardous schedule panning out the rest of the week. It will be a tough storm to weather, but if they can string together a few performances like tonight and Benn and Lehtonen can lead the team on, they should be in good shape.