Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Dallas Stars were considered to be a contender in the Western Conference coming into the 2014-15 NHL season. Through 29 games this year, they find themselves in sixth place in a tough Central Division. They have Tyler Seguin, who, as of Dec. 15, leads in the league in both total points with 38, and goals with 23. They also have Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza, who have 26 and 24 points, respectively; why isn’t the team doing better than they have been considering their offensive power? Because they are dead last in the NHL for goals against per game at 3.52.
If we round that number off to four, obviously that means Dallas has to score five goals a night to win a game, which is a difficult task in today’s NHL. Even if we round it down to three, scoring four goals a night still isn’t easy considering the first place team in goals for per game is the Toronto Maple Leafs at 3.37.
The Stars‘ defense is an obvious target when trying locate the problem with the team, and at the heart of defense is goaltending. To date, Kari Lehtonen has not been getting it done in net.
Lehtonen’s statistics certainly don’t jump out at you. A 90.2 save percentage and a 3.10 goals against per game are rather poor for the modern goalie. His stats have always seemed to fluctuate, going up one year, and down the next, however, this is a new low. In 2005-06, he had a 90.6 save percentage with the Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets), but even then his goals against average was at a more acceptable 2.94.
Lehtonen is always a question mark coming into a new season. He will either be a solid No. 1 goalie for your team, or he will struggle a bit. This season, however, it appears as if he has hit a new low, which is why he is the Stars’ most disappointing player so far. If he picks it up again, the Stars may jump back into the hunt in the West.
Shaun Lavery is a Calgary Flames writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, or add him to your network on Google.
