So is it back to Kari Lehtonen now?
It seems like a reasonable question after Antti Niemi surrendered five goals on 24 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss in Game 5 on Friday, especially after Stars coach Lindy Ruff recently reiterated that Dallas has two equal goaltenders.
“We’ll just evaluate and move on,” Ruff said following Friday’s loss, per the Dallas Morning News. “We’ll just keep doing what we’ve done all year. We’re up 3-2, and they’ve both won us games in the playoffs.”
Lehtonen started in the first three games of this series against Minnesota and held the Wild to just one goal in the first two contests. However, Niemi got the nod for Game 4 after Lehtonen allowed four goals on 24 shots in Game 3.
Niemi turned aside 28 of 30 shots in his 2016 playoff debut, which led to him starting again on Friday. So if there’s a pattern there, it would suggest that Lehtonen will start after Niemi’s less than ideal showing, but we’ll have to wait and see.