Dallas Stars Can Still Trust Their Goaltending Duo

The Dallas Stars have received a lot of criticism for their goaltending tandem. But so far this season, it’s becoming pretty clear that the tandem is not to blame.

Being a goaltender in the NHL definitely has its negatives.

In a typical game, they have to tote around a lot of extra padding, they’re secluded from the action for about half of the game, they have a piece of frozen rubber pelt them between 25-30 times a game, and to top it all of when their team loses, they typically take the bulk of the blame. Not to mention that they have to stand in that uncomfortable position for the majority of the game.

It can’t be an easy job nor is it for the faint of heart. Goalies must have a thick outer shell (for more reasons than one) and endure a lot both on and off the ice.

Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi know this all too well. The Dallas Stars goaltending duo is currently in the middle of its second year of service, and the overall perception of the tandem is no different than it was at the end of the 2015-16 playoff run: not good enough.

The Dallas Stars as a team have received a lot of criticism over the past year for their support of the tandem. In June 2015, the Stars made trade news when they sent a seventh-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for then 31-year-old starting goalie Antti Niemi.

This was an interesting move to say the least for the Stars, who had spent the past five seasons bouncing from backup to backup without finding any long-term success. GM Jim Nill decided to go in a new direction and test out a new theory: two starting goalies sharing time in net.

Through last year, it went alright. Though neither goalie carried a save percentage above .910 or a goals against average below 2.65, both backstopped the Stars to 25 wins a piece and helped Dallas solidify themselves as the best team in the Western Conference.

So, with all of the regular season success, everyone was A-OK with and fully supportive of the tandem. Then the postseason rolled around, and things slowly went downhill. After a respectable six-game series victory over the Minnesota Wild, the Stars fell just short in the Western semis in a seven-game set against the St. Louis Blues.

Amongst a lack of offense, inconsistency on defense, and disappointing special teams was the average play of both goalies. Guess what everyone focused their anger and resentment on? Hint: it wasn’t the offense, defense, or special teams.

Coming into 2016-17, many expected the Stars to abandon the “failed” trial with the Lehtonen-Niemi duo. The name of Ben Bishop was linked to Dallas multiple times throughout the offseason, especially during the draft when the big-time trades were going down. If Jim Nill truly was going to shake things up again, Bishop was an excellent place to start.

Instead, Nill backed away from all the rumors and brought the Stars with him when he confirmed that Lehtonen and Niemi would remain the starters for Dallas, at least for the beginning of the season. Of course everyone was up in arms against it.

And so far this season, it has been more of the same. When the Dallas Stars slip up, it’s all because of the goalies. Forget the fact that they faced 30+ shots and had little offensive or defensive support throughout the night. Also forget that the Stars are just now recovering from one of the worst injury plagues that the franchise has ever witnessed. Just aim all of your anger at the crease.

It seems as though it’s human nature to always blame the goalie when things go awry. After all, he is the last line of defense and if he doesn’t stop the shot, there’s no hope. The goalie has a lot bearing down on his shoulders.

The thing is, the Dallas Stars’ goaltending tandem could not be further from the blame this year.

Now you’re probably saying, “But Niemi’s save percentage is .898 and so is Lehtonen’s! Even an average goaltender’s save percentage is above .900 so the blame is definitely on them. Let’s burn them at the stake and start fresh.” Well, maybe not that last part.