2. Kari Makes A Blind Save With The Glove
There’s a lot to like about this one. In fact, I would venture to make the argument that this was Lehtonen’s most impressive save as a member of the Stars. Let’s break it down.
This one goes all the way back to the shortened season of 2012-13. After a lockout caused the NHL to lose the typical playing months of October, November, and December, a deal was finally struck. The NHL and NHLPA agreed on a new CBA and put a shortened season into motion starting in mid-January 2013.
Only 48 games made up the 2013 slate, with no cross-conference games scheduled. That being said, the Dallas Stars saw a lot of the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, and San Jose Sharks. But they also saw a fair amount of teams that are no longer in the Western Conference but were in 2013, such as Detroit and Columbus.
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And it was in a game against the Blue Jackets when Lehtonen pulled off a stunning stop. It was one of the first contests of the season for Dallas, who was 2-2-1 at the time. They were on an average pace to start the year, but it makes sense when you look at how the team finished.
Philip Larsen started the game off with a power play goal in the second period to give Dallas the 1-0 lead. But Derek Dorsett scored near the end of the period and Vinny Prospal tallied a goal early in the third to shift the advantage.
Columbus would go on to win the game 2-1, but that’s not why we’re talking about it.
The reason we’re talking about this game is because of a certain save made by Kari Lehtonen.
In the first few seconds of the second period, the Dallas Stars were finishing up a penalty kill. As Columbus entered the zone, a pass was dropped back to defenseman Jack Johnson who made his way into the left circle where he fired a shot.
Lehtonen made the initial stop, getting a piece of the puck with his glove. But considering the placement of the glove wasn’t completely precise and the shot had speed behind it, the puck bounced from his hand and moved towards the net. But then, he did it.
The Big Finn literally reached BEHIND his back without looking and grabbed the puck out of midair. If you haven’t been a Stars fan for more than five seasons, you might not remember this save. But with this fantastic move, there’s no way we can leave it out of the countdown.
Kari Lehtonen isn’t just a goaltender. He can do magic, too.