"Kari Lehtonen has missed eight games since suffering a groin strain Nov. 26 against Phoenix, but he said his recovery is going well and that he felt "normal'' during workouts Sunday at Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco.

``Today was the first day I really felt normal,'' Lehtonen said. ``I skated about 45 minutes and we did some sliding and things like that. I felt great. Tomorrow, we're going to try some reaction saves. Right now, I now where the puck is going and that makes it a little easier. But today was awesome, it was fun.''

When asked if he had a target date for a return, he said that the ``after Christmas'' we've heard before seems accurate to him."