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Kari Lehtonen picks up 300th win as Stars top Islanders 5-2

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Kari Lehtonen picked up his 300th career win and the Dallas Stars defeated the New York Islanders 5-2 on Wednesday.

Tyler Pitlick scored twice and the Stars won back-to-back games in New York after opening their four-game road trip with a win against the New York Rangers on Monday.

Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, and Remie Elie also scored for Dallas, which chased Islanders starting goalie Jaroslav Halak in the second period.

Lehtonen passed Mikka Kiprusoff with his 624th career appearance, becoming the most experienced Finnish goalie in NHL history. He made 31 saves Wednesday, including 14 in the first period when Dallas built up a 2-0 lead.

The Stars did lose Alexander Radulov to a lower-body injury in the win, something that we’ll monitor going forward.

Play of the Game

Alexander Radulov’s first period goal deflated the Islanders and really put the game out of reach early. It was a seemingly simple shot, but Jaroslav Halak couldn’t hold the puck and the Stars capitalized.

The Upset Three Stars of the Game

1. Kari Lehtonen: Bit of a sentimental choice with his 300th win, but the goalie was superb and may have earned himself a third-straight start later this week.

2. Tyler Pitlick: Pair of goals, key part of a hard-working line that helped set the tone for the Stars.

3. Jamie Benn: Stars captain had a goal and two assists, showing signs that he’s breaking out of his funk.

The Goals

First Period

7:37 Tyler Pitlick scored on a bank shot after Dan Hamhuis took a point shot that took a hard bounce off the boards. Stars 1, Islanders 0

15:46 Alexander Radulov scored on the rush on a seemingly harmless shot that beat Jarsolav Halak five-hole. Stars 2, Islanders 0

Second Period

1:01 With a delayed penalty the Stars cashed in when Remi Elie scored on a rebound. Stars 3, Islanders 0

9:21 Jamie Benn scored on a rush with a wrist shot, ending Halak’s evening. Stars 4, Islanders 0

Third Period

0:21 Tyler Pitlick scored his second goal of the game on a tip after a point shot by John Klingberg. Stars 5, Islanders 0

1:06 Anders Lee scored to break Kari Lehtonen’s shutout. Stars 5, Islanders 1

16:28 Anders Lee scored his second goal of the game on the power play. Stars 5, Islanders 2

Islanders lineup
Anders Lee — John Tavares — Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd — Mathew Barzal — Jordan Eberle
Brock Nelson — Anthony Beauvillier — Josh Ho-Sang
Jason Chimera — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

Nick Leddy — Ryan Pulock
Calvin De Haan — Adam Pelech
Denis Seidenberg — Scott Mayfield

Jaroslav Halak
Thomas Greiss

Scratched: Alan Quine

Injured: Johnny Boychuk (lower body), Thomas Hickey (upper body), Nikolay Kulemin (upper body)

Stars lineup
Mattias Janmark — Jason Spezza — Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie — Tyler Seguin — Devin Shore
Gemel Smith — Martin Hanzal — Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns — Julius Honka

Kari Lehtonen
Ben Bishop

Scratched: Jason Dickinson, Jamie Oleksiak

Injured: Marc Methot (knee), Antoine Roussel (elbow)

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Comments

  1. Thanks for your style of coverage! Even though I’m in Alaska, I feel like I’m walking away from MSG saying…”Wow, glad I was here to see the Stars Win!”

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