In Denver, Kari Lehtonen returned to the Dallas Stars’ net after a few weeks off the ice and made 25 saves to backstop the Stars to a 7-2 win over the Avalanche.
“It was nice to play after a couple of weeks off,” he said. “It was nice to have some good, solid stops, and getting a couple of goals from our guys eased me into it.”
Lehtonen had been given the hook in his last start and was not with the team for family 
reasons.
The Stars offense was power by two goals each from Tyler Seguin and Brett Ritchie.
“We are playing the right way,” Dallas head coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We are not chasing the game up and down the ice. We aren’t gambling on 50-50 situations. We are playing smart. You play the game the right way, you give yourselves a chance to win games, and that’s what we are doing.”
Colorado did have not have much pushback during the game as the Stars stormed the defensive zone.
“We gave them everything they got tonight,” Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson said. “We turned the puck over, we were sloppy and there’s no excuse. They played last night, got in probably 2 in the morning and we were rested and ready to go, and we laid an egg. It’s unacceptable.”
Jason Spezza, Greg Pateryn and Devin Shore also struck for the Stars who improved to 16-10-1.
“Tonight it wasn’t just our line, it was the whole team,” Seguin said. “It’s been a domino effect through the lineup. A great week for us and now we get ready for some tough hockey coming up.”
Mikko Rantanen and Blake Comeau scored for the Avs.
“It’s a relief game. You win, it’s a relief so you can fight another day. So, we’re relieved we won both on the weekend and we’re really looking forward to Nashville (on Tuesday),” Hitchcock said of the win.
[WATCH: All Stars vs. Avalanche highlights]
Jonathan Bernier‘s yielded four goals on just nine shots and was given the hook.
“We’re getting to the point in the season where we can’t keep repeating mistakes,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “Three out of four at home, our starts have been poor. They’ve won five in a row now, lots of weapons, we turn the puck over and make it easy for them.”
Semyon Varlamov, finished the game with 16 saves.
“You just have to flush it down the toilet and focus on the next one. We played horrible,” the Avs’ Erik Johnson said after the loss.
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