Stars and Lehtonen Shut Out Panthers, 2-0 – Postgame

This win for the Dallas Stars is what you would call a hollow victory.  Kari Lehtonen was magnificent in shutting out the Panthers, but they lost three players in the process.  Tyler Seguin was hit very low by Dmitry Kulikov late in the third and didn’t return.  Kulikov was assessed a five-minute major penalty for clipping and was kicked out of the game.  On the ensuing powerplay, Patrick Eaves was hit in the head with a puck shot from the point and would not return to the game.  Ales Hemsky also was lost in the first period with an undisclosed injury.  The full game recap is below.

Recap

Both teams had a rather slow start to the game and that was to be expected as Florida played last night.  Although each team had some shots on goal, there were never really any threatening scoring chances from either side for almost half the period.  Eight and a half minutes in, Patrick Eaves took an unfortunate double minor penalty for high sticking.  Well, unfortunate for the Panthers anyway.  A minute into the double minor, Jamie Benn was able to capitalize on a nice pass from Vernon Fiddler and put the Stars up 1-0.  It was the third shorthanded goal in the last two games for the Stars.  Almost a minute later on the same powerplay, ex-Star Jussi Jokinen got a great cutter pass from Brian Campbell but Kari Lehtonen was there to make the glove save.  Immediately after that chance, the Stars were given another shorthanded opportunity.  This time it was Benn feeding Fiddler but his shot was steered just wide.  The Stars made up for it late in the period though, as Jason Spezza spun around rookie Aaron Ekblad to put the Stars up 2-0.  The Stars would take that lead to the locker room after one period of play.

The second period began with Vern Fiddler and Jimmy Hayes having a little bit of a scrum and ultimately the Stars would take advantage, as they were awarded a powerplay.  Spezza had yet another good chance on Al Montoya but they were not able to capitalize on the powerplay chance.  Following the powerplay, Ryan Garbutt out-battled a Panther for a puck in the corner and found Cody Eakin alone in front of the net.  Again Montoya was there to make a big save to keep the Panthers in the game.  Soon after that, Florida had a 2-on-1 but Lehtonen blocked away a chance from grinder Shawn Thornton.  The two teams traded chances back and forth, as both Scottie Upshall and Jason Demers had quality opportunities but were unable to convert.  Later on, Spezza had another quality chance but was robbed by Montoya.  There was no scoring in the second and the Stars took a 2-0 lead to the third.

The third period and any scoring chances would be completely overshadowed by what happened late in the third.  Without about six minutes to play, Dmitry Kulikov leveled Tyler Seguin’s knees with a hip check and knocked him out of the game.  As I mentioned above, Kulikov was given a five-minute major and was removed from the contest.  On the powerplay that followed, Patrick Eaves was hit in the head from a shot by John Klingberg and immediately went down.  He was down for several minutes before being helped off the ice.  The Stars would finish the game 2-0 but the celebration was certainly muffled by the injuries.

Thoughts and Observations

The Kulikov hit was clearly dirty as he was given a five-minute major for it.  I won’t speculate on the length of a suspension but I expect one will be coming.

Overshadowed by everything else, Kari Lehtonen was absolutely fantastic tonight.  It was the first game since the Jhonas Enroth trade and Lehtonen responded to the pressure.

Jryki Jokipakka was the best defenseman on the ice tonight.  He was getting in passing lanes, shooting lanes and clearing pucks out of the danger zones all night long.  He has really come along and is starting to look like a deserving NHL regular.

As of this writing there are no reports on the extent of the injuries to Hemsky, Seguin, or Eaves.

The Stars will hit the ice again tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche.  Check back here for your Dallas Stars news!