Lehtonen makes Stars debut
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
The plan was for Kari Lehtonen to play his first game as a Dallas Star Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh. The plan changed early in the second period Thursday night, when Lehtonen replaced Marty Turco with the Stars down 4-1 to the St. Louis Blues.
Lehtonen, who hasn't played in the NHL since last April due to two back surgeries, played 38:10 on the night, stopping 14 of 16 shots.
"It was fine," Lehtonen said. "A couple of the first shots there were bad rebounds and later on I tried to the play the puck a couple of times and it didn't work out too good. There are some things that need to get better, but I am sure they'll get better when I get more comfortable."
Said Stars coach Marc Crawford: "I thought he was fine. One goal went in off of Stephane Robidas' skate. I thought he looked good. I the third he had to face some really good chances . He's a big goaltender, butterfly guy, fills up a lot of the net. I think it's positive that he got those important minutes for him."
Lehtonen, whose last game action was a four-game conditioning stint in the AHL about a month ago, said his back felt fine.
"It was fine. That part felt good," he said. "We were worried about that, but it turned out good. I tried every five minutes anyway to get up from the seat and do a little stretching and move around, so I think that helped."
Lehtonen's first save came with 12:26 left in the second period, when he stopped B.J. Crombeen's shorthanded chance from the right faceoff circle.
He surrendered his first goal when the Stars were scrambling in their own zone and David Perron got the rebound of his own shot and set up Patrik Berglund, who scored from point blank range.
The second goal came when a T.J. Oshie shot hit Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas' skate and slipped between Lehtonen's legs.
Fistric returns
Stars defenseman Mark Fistric, who missed the Stars last five games due to a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery, was back in the lineup Thursday night. With Fistric back in, Jeff Woywitka was a healthy scratch.
Brandon Segal was also healthy scratch as Fabian Brunnstrom was back in the lineup after being a scratch in Tuesday's game.
