On Tuesday night, Kari Lehtonen got the start in goal for the Stars for the first time since January 19.
Antti Niemi had been getting the lion’s share of the work in goal in recent weeks but the Stars never wavered in their stance that they had two legitimate starting goalies and that, while they were riding Niemi at the moment as the owner of the hot hand, Lehtonen still had a very important role on the team.
That said, Lehtonen hadn’t been good in his most recent action. In his previous four starts, he was winless and allowed 14 goals.
Which made Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Wild all the more huge.
"They got us on our heels and we got caught on a couple of long shifts," Ruff said of the Wild, per Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. "They're a desperate team, but Kari was fantastic. He needed a game like that. If he can build off of that, it's a huge step in the right direction."
