"Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen conceded he might get a tad worked up Saturday night, assuming he starts for the first time against his only previous NHL employer, the Atlanta Thrashers.

Teammate Steve Ott, experienced in igniting opponents' emotions, is unconvinced.

"He's extremely calm and casual every single day," Ott said. "I've never seen him too high. I've never seen him too low."

Those qualities – and a 6-4, 215-pound frame that fills the net – went a long way toward Atlanta making Lehtonen the second overall draft pick in 2002 at 18 after he won the Elite League championship in his native Finland. But a succession of groin pulls and back surgeries made the phenom expendable.

He came to Dallas 11 months ago as a possible successor to the departing Marty Turco. Lehtonen, 27 and signed through 2012-13, has played a major role in the Stars' standing atop the Pacific Division since late November.

"He's been everything that we could have hoped that he would be," coach Marc Crawford said, "and probably a little bit more."

Lehtonen's goals-against average and save percentage don't rank among the league leaders. But they are similar to his numbers from 2006-07, when the Thrashers earned their first playoff berth and won the Southeast Division. And he should approach the career highs in games and minutes played that he set in '06-07.

"Everybody in the league felt that if he could improve his conditioning and he could get over the injury woes, which largely were caused by a lack of conditioning, that there was a chance for him to be an elite goaltender," Crawford said. "I think he's becoming an elite goaltender."

Stars captain Brenden Morrow is convinced.

"In practice, there aren't a lot of holes," Morrow said. "He's quick. He's agile for a big guy. He moves good laterally on rebounds.

"He worked real hard to condition himself last summer to prepare to come and carry a lot of the load for us. He's been exceptional."

Lehtonen's back woes resurfaced about a month ago, forcing him to miss four consecutive games starting with a date at Chicago. Turns out emotions played a role in that episode; Lehtonen said he got overly excited about playing for the first time at the United Center, which would have given him a start in every current NHL building.

"Kind of just stayed in my room and laid in bed," he said. "Maybe I laid too long. I was so mad that I couldn't play."

So when the Stars returned to Chicago last week for their only other scheduled appearance this season, Lehtonen wasn't about to tempt fate. "