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Stars' Lehtonen feeling more comfortable on job

"With mathematical elimination from the playoffs possibly coming as early as tonight, the Dallas Stars need to be focused on little things that can help in the future -- like how Kari Lehtonen is handling his return from a year off of hockey.Dallas got a great sign from Lehtonen on Monday as he made 43 saves and appeared to be able to handle a heavy load of traffic around the net. He lost a 3-1 game to the Anaheim Ducks, but again, the important thing for the Stars might be that he showed a tremendous amount of battle in a difficult situation."I thought he was very good," Stars coach Marc Crawford said. "He was pressed in traffic, and I thought he handled that well. We've been watching that as a key part of his game."The thing about goalies is that they can have the puck in their own end for a minute or so, and that's very stressful. Whether that's going up and down, or just the stress of being on edge and handling the traffic around your net... that's a situation that wears a goalie down, and I thought he handled that well."Lehtonen, 26, had two back surgeries in the off-season and had not played a game before the Stars acquired him in a Feb. 9 trade with the Atlanta Thrashers. He played in his first game March 4 and he has been trying to work his way into shape since. In his last six games, he has looked strong and has posted a 4-2-0 record, a 2.33 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage."


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