Dallas Stars Lean On Lehtonen, Pick Up 3-2 Win Over Avs
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars welcomed the Colorado Avalanche to Big D for the second home game of their four-game stand. It was quite the intense game, but somehow the Stars managed to finish on top with the 3-2 victory.
When the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche met up on October 15th for their first meeting of the season, the Avs walked away with a triumphant 6-5 win. Tonight, the Stars somehow found a way to flip the script and topple Colorado for the 3-2 victory.
Overall, it was quite the electrifying win. Post game wrap-up and thoughts on the game can be found below.
Game recap
The Dallas Stars opened up the scoring just a few minutes into the first when Johnny Oduya rifled a slap shot that ricocheted off of the knee of an Avalanche defender and in. Two minutes later, Brett Ritchie scored on the power play after some excellent puck movement. With just 21 seconds to go in the first frame, Patrick Eaves scored on the power play for his fourth straight game with a goal.
The second period saw the Stars sit back and play a more defensive-minded game while Colorado tried to get on the board. Nathan MacKinnon did find a way to score for the Avs while shorthanded, but the heroics of Kari Lehtonen kept the Stars at a 3-1 lead heading into the third.
Early on in the third period, the Avs once again brought the heat. The pressure led to Mikhail Grigorenko tallying his first goal of the year to cut the Dallas lead to 3-2. The third period raged on with the Avalanche finding some high quality chances, but Lehtonen proved to be too much and helped seal the 3-2 win for the Stars.
Thoughts and Observations
Winning streak GONE
Semyon Varlamov was carrying quite an impressive streak into tonight’s game that I’m sure many did not know about.
Coming into tonight’s contest, Varlamov owned the longest winning streak of any active goaltender against an NHL team. He had won 11 straight games, spanning back to the lockout season of 2013.
Well that streak has officially been broken. The Stars pinned three goals on Varlamov early and it turned out to be enough to halt his streak at 11 and break it back to zero.
Take a bow, Mr. Lehtonen
There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Kari Lehtonen was the first star of tonight’s game. After his performance, he might deserve first star of the season up to this point.
Through the first period, Lehtonen denied all six shots that he faced. The final two period was where he had to be the Stars’ rock on multiple occasions. Dallas was outshot 30-16 in the final two frames, and Lehtonen found a way to stop 28 of them and keep the Stars in the lead.
There were saves with the pads, saves with the blocker, and even a save with the glove that definitely entered Lehtonen’s name into the “NHL Save of the Year” contest on Nathan MacKinnon. He stopped five from MacKinnon alone, and each one seemed more difficult than the last.
Lehtonen carried the Stars’ weight through the game and proved that he knows how to be the goaltender that every Cup-caliber team requires. If the Stars see this Lehtonen on a regular basis, they will have no trouble conjuring up wins and roaring through their schedule. You can count on that.
Switching roles
For as far back as I can remember, the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche have played the exact same style of game that always comes out with the same result: Varlamov (or insert other Avs goalie) stalling a furious Stars’ assault and the Avalanche sneaking away with a win.
It always seemed to happen and got to the point where it was the general assumption every time the two teams met up. But tonight, the script was flipped.
While the first 20 minutes involved the Stars firing on all cylinders, the final 40 minutes was controlled and dictated by Colorado. But Lehtonen stood tall when Dallas needed him most and helped drag them to the finish line. How’s that for a perfectly-timed role reversal?
The final stat line
The Dallas Stars were heftily outshot 36-22 by the Avalanche tonight. Dallas narrowly controlled the face-off dot (51.2%-48.8%). The Stars worked wonders with their special teams units, going 2/7 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill. The Avs outhit the Stars 12-7 and Dallas blocked 25 shots to Colorado’s 17.
Next: Stars' Upcoming Schedule Is Filled With Central Opponents
Looking ahead
While the Dallas Stars did walk away with the win, head coach Lindy Ruff called their play “embarrassing” in the post game interview because of the increased lack of effort throughout the final two periods.
On Saturday night, the Stars will welcome the Edmonton Oilers to town for their second meeting in the last eight days. Dallas won the first meeting 3-2. Do they have what it takes to make it 2/2? We’ll have to wait and find out. Make sure to check in to Blackout Dallas for complete coverage of the game.