Dallas Stars News: Kari Lehtonen Will Continue Starting In Net

The regular season rages on with only five games remaining as the Dallas Stars continue to hope for a miracle to spring them into the playoffs. With Ben Bishop still recovering, the crease will be Kari Lehtonen’s to lose.

It’s not everyday that a team has to rely on their backup goaltender in the midst of a furious playoff push. But that’s exactly what the Dallas Stars have had to do over the past three weeks.

Ever since starting goaltender Ben Bishop exited a game on Mar. 5 against the Ottawa Senators, Kari Lehtonen has taken on a massive role. Bishop has only played four periods since then through the Stars’ 11 games. Other than that, it’s been Lehtonen manning the fort.

And sadly, things haven’t panned out so well. The Stars are 1-6-2 in their last nine games and have dropped from third place in the Central Division to five points outside of the playoff picture. With only five games to go, their playoff hopes are incredibly slim at best.

Their demise hasn’t been all on Lehtonen, though. In fact, Kari has played well over the stretch and given the Stars a chance to win on multiple occasions. For all that is being asked of him to step back into a starting role after playing backup for the entirety of this season and lead Dallas in a playoff charge, he’s done a decent job. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had the offensive help he needs on most nights to get the team two points.

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But still, the fight rages on as the Dallas Stars look to at least close out this confusing and frustrating 2017-18 season on a somewhat high note. If they can win their final five games and make it six in a row, who knows what could happen? It may still not be enough to get them into the postseason, but at least they will close the year out with some hope.

And if they are planning on achieving that task, it looks as though Lehtonen will be a factor in the equation.

At the Stars’ practice today, goaltender Ben Bishop was back on the ice and skating around. Still, he is not close to a return and is likely out for at least another week. With that being said, Ken Hitchcock made it clear that Lehtonen will be the go-to starter until Bishop is ready to go again.

Considering the lingering effects of Bishop’s injury and the slim amount of time remaining in the season, there’s a good chance that Lehtonen may start the final five games for Dallas. If the Stars find themselves back in realistic striking distance of a playoff spot over the next four or five days, then maybe Bishop comes back to help in the final push. But considering that would take a bit of a miracle at this point, it may be wise to just keep him on the bench and not aggravate the injury any further.

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Kari Lehtonen has proven to be a reliable and functioning backup goalie for Dallas this year. If he keeps playing as he has, he should have no trouble in earning a new contract this offseason to resume his role with the team.

But how many more games will he get the crease in? From how it’s looking, he just might get all of them.