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Star Gazing: Thomas Acquisition Pays a Dividend |
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Battling for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars captured two vital points in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild last night at the American Airlines Center. It was an emotional night in Big D, starting with pregame jersey retirement ceremony for Mike Modano and continuing through a third-period comeback on the heels of losing Kari Lehtonen to an injury with 13:23 remaining in regulation.
Veteran goaltender Tim Thomas, acquired on trade deadline day from Florida, came in to relieve Lehtonen with the game hanging in the balance. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner stopped all six shots fired his way.
The Stars lost Lehtonen when he got steamrolled by Wild forward Erik Haula as Haula drove to the net. Haula appeared to get his feet tangled a bit but made no effort to avoid the contact. Haula received a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. Lehtonen suffered a cut to his head after hitting the crossbar. The big Finn will undergo further evaluation for a possible concussion.
Late during the ensuing power play, Tyler Seguin followed up the rebound of his own shot to tie the game at 3-3. Four minutes later, Erik Cole collected a Keith Ballard giveaway, went in a breakaway and snapped a shot past Minnesoa goatender Darcy Kuemper to put Dallas ahead to stay.
Leading up to the Stars' comeback in the third period, the match was a seesaw affair that saw Dallas take leads of 1-0 and 2-1 and fail to protect either one.
The Stars opened the scoring with a line rush goal just 31 seconds into the game. Benn took a pass from Rich Peverley and wristed a shot home past Kuemper from the right circle.
With 2:28 left in the opening stanza, Minnesota knotted the game at 1-1 on a power play goal by Haula.
In the second stanza, Dallas retook the lead early. Kuemper got most of a shot by Seguin but the puck dribbled past him short of the goal line. Alex Chiasson knocked the disc home for a 2-1 lead at 1:55. Midway through regulation, the Wild re-tied the game as Dallas could get the handle on a loose puck and Charlie Coyle tucked the puck home in the ensuing scramble near the net.
The Wild took their first and only lead of the game at 1:23 of the third period. The Stars paid for a turnover as Kyle Brodziak beat Lehtonen from the left circle. The Stars mounted their successful comeback in the latter half of the final period.
With the victory, the Stars extended their lead over Phoenix for the final Western Conference playoff spot to three points. Dallas moved to within three points of seventh-place Minnesota for the higher wildcard seed.
Dallas Stars Blogger • 
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