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Recap: Kari Lehtonen Surges to 300th win of his career in Stars 5-2 Victory Over the Islanders

Posted on by Micah Turman

A first period that going into the midway point was looking to continue to be a back and forth battle. Both teams were simply trying to obtain possession,  but it was Tyler Pitlick opening up the scoring for the game in New York. Dan Hamhuis shoots the puck from the point, as it hits off the boards behind the net Tyler Pitlick waiting right beside the crease gets the rebound and sneaks it in past Jaroslav Halak. The Stars strike the first goal of the game and take the 1-0 lead early on.

The Islanders give up a penalty and the Dallas power-play unit takes the ice for the first time of the night. Yet the Stars power-play woes continue and they aren’t really able to generate much.

With 4:14 left in the first period and Alexander Radulov extends the Dallas lead to 2-0. Off the rush Jason Spezza kicked it over to Radulov and gets the assist. Radulov then takes the nice forehand shot from the right face-off circle and beats Halak right through the legs, 2-0 Stars lead heading into the intermission.

Early into the middle frame Remi Elie draws the penalty, and with the extra attacker on it was Elie again to finish the play extending the lead to 3-0. In just a little over a minute into the second, Devin Shore takes the initial shot but it was Elie able to clean up the rebound and put the puck home.

Midway through the second period and it was the captain striking from afar for the 4-0 lead. From the slot Jamie Benn fires one in that sounded to clink off the post but sure enough it found its way in. Therefore ending Jaroslav Halak’s night and so the Dallas domination here on New York ice. Julius Honka gets the assist and that is now a two game point streak for the young defensemen looking to make himself a staple on this team.

The offense was surging with a 4-0 lead now but it was the play of the defense and better yet Kari Lehtonen that continued to show out. Lehtonen looking to obtain his 300th win was doing more than  he could to try and make that happen with many beautiful saves at this point.

Less than 30 second into the final period and John Klingberg continues to tack onto his already high points total. Klingberg fires it from the blue-line and what appeared to be his goal was deflected off of Tyler Pitlick who is awarded the goal, the second for him on the night, a 5-0 Dallas lead now.

Kari Lehtonen looking for the shutout on his way to the 300th but is denied the opportunity by Anders Lee, who finds the rebound and puts it in. Now a 5-1 game and a four goal lead for the Stars, as Lehtonen who was having a fantastic night takes just a little chink into his armor. Shortly after he adds to his penalty minutes as he gets the call for roughing, obviously frustrated at New York and clearly wanting that win. Lehtonen got aggressive and I don’t think anyone seemed to mind, besides maybe Honka who sat in the box for him, as he surged toward the win.

In a more tightly contested third period Anders Lee continued to spoil Lehtonen’s night, getting his second goal of the night and now just a three goal lead for the Stars. The Islanders started to find their pace late into the third, yet it still wasn’t enough as Dallas takes the 5-2 win.

A big congrats to Kari Lehtonen tonight on the 300th win of his career and also now holding the record for most NHL games started by a Finnish-born goaltender, 624. We all hope that the great play from Kari continues throughout the rest of the season ahead! The Stars take their second straight win in two games of this four game road trip and will head to New Jersey to play the Devils on Friday.

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