Kari Lehtonen has been placed on injured reserve by the Dallas Stars after suffering what coach Glen Gulutzan explained was a groin injury in the first period of last night’s game against the Phoenix Coyotes. Expect Kari to miss at least the next two games this coming week if not possibly more as it’s likely the Stars will want to give Lehtonen enough time to fully recover from an injury that can linger if not allowed to heal property.
Kari’s last injury suffered was a back issue that caused him to miss four games in mid December of last year.
Andrew Raycroft will be getting the next few starts in place of Lehtonen and Richard Bachman has been called up from the AHL Texas Stars to fill in backup duties. Bachman is sporting a 7-5-1 record with a .887 save percentage and a 3.13 goals against average in 15 games with Texas this season. Bachman did have a brief taste of NHL action last season playing a little over nine minutes and facing four shots against the Phoenix Coyotes back on December 11, 2010.
The Stars have also recalled forward Francis Wathier from the Texas Stars after Vernon Fiddler also suffered a groin injury in last night’s game with the Coyotes. Fiddler is being listed as day to day with the injury and it’s unsure if he’ll be in the lineup against Colorado on Monday.
Wathier has collected 5 goals and 7 assists in 12 games with the Texas Stars and also seen time with the big club playing in eight games but not collecting any points.