Dallas Stars Goaltender Tonight vs. Chicago Remains A Tossup
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars, fresh off of a dominating and demoralizing 7-1 win over the Minnesota Wild, will look to notch another Central Division win Sunday night when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center at 7 pm (don’t worry, you won’t miss the Cowboys game).
Before the week began, it was a popular thought that Dallas Stars starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen would manage the crease against the New York Rangers on Monday, the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, leaving the second part of a back-to-back for backup Anders Lindback to manage against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday evening.
But then the Dallas Stars two most recent performances happened. The Stars dominated the Coyotes as well as the Wild in consecutive home games, outscoring the opponent 13-1, while outshooting them 66-54. This included one shutout for Lehtonen on Wednesday, followed by a game on Saturday where he took on a mere 22 shots, none being very difficult for him to fend off.
The question that now remains to be answered is who will man the crease Sunday night when the Stars size up to the Hawks.
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Lehtonen currently stands as one of the Dallas Stars hottest players. He has won his last four games in net for the Stars, and currently sits with a .909 save percentage and a 2.80 goals against average on the season, along with a record of 17-8-5. At one point in the season, his save percentage sat at .876. He has beefed up his stats and his play, becoming the Kari Lehtonen that everyone expected at the beginning of the year. Through his last nine games alone, he has a .924 save percentage and a 1.89 goals against average.
Anders Lindback is a different story. For Lindback, it seemed as though he couldn’t get his season going. After starting the year 0-5-0 with a save percentage of .844 and a goals against average of 4.00, he was sent down to the Texas Stars of the AHL in order to hopefully “clear his head” and get back to his goaltending ways. It seemed to have helped, as Lindback went 3-2-0 in Austin, with a save percentage of .946 and a goals against average of 1.59. Lindback was forced into a jam against the Edmonton Oilers back on December 21st, when Kari Lehtonen gave away four goals in a span of less than thirty minutes, and Lindback was substituted in for cleanup duty in a 4-2 hole. Lindback came through, only sacrificing one goal off of ten shots and helping the Stars complete the comeback in the eighth round of the shootout and getting his first win as a Dallas Star.
Tonight, the Dallas Stars face off with a team that is first place throughout the NHL in least goals allowed and third place in highest number of goals scored. In other words, they are a dominant Central Division powerhouse and the Stars will need all forces accounted for if they are going to take down the juggernaut that is the Chicago Blackhawks. Some Stars fans still do not fully trust Lindback with a 1-5-0 record, but it is all up to Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff.
When asked on whether he would consider going with Lehtonen again, he said:
“Well, that’s the discussion. It was a low-action night for him, and I think on home ice it was probably the lowest chances he’s faced. It gives me a chance to go back to him, but I’ll have a conversation with him, and it’s something that I may consider.”
Kari Lehtonen led the NHL goaltenders in games played last season, and with the number of quality chances he faced last night, playing in another game should not prove to be a giant obstacle for him. But it all depends on how willing he is and how comfortable Ruff is with playing him.
It doesn’t look like the Stars participated in a morning skate today and instead slept in after arriving in Chicago in the wee hours of Sunday morning. So the starter for the Dallas Stars in the crease looks like it will be a mystery until warm-ups.
Leave your comments and questions below, and as always, thanks for reading! Go Stars.