Editor’s note: this was all written prior to Thursday night’s loss
One of the many things that we’ve learned in the last few years is that Kari Lehtonen can be a pretty frustrating starting goalie. Some nights he looks unbeatable, using his huge frame and deft positioning to stonewall the opponent. Other nights he just looks beat and gives up 3 goals on 5 shots (or 3 goals on 3 shots, as evidenced by last night’s game).
It may seem strange that the Stars would want to keep him around given his inconsistency, but as Mike Heika explains, having a fringe starting goalie as a backup is a pretty valuable asset that most teams would be envious of (and it’s not like the Stars have a lot of NHL ready goalie talent in their system):
The Stars don't have a ton of goalies ready to step up to the NHL level, so having Lehtonen is something that is pretty important.