Panthers To Take On The Stars
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MIAMI (AP) -- No goaltender has faced more shots than the Dallas Stars' Kari Lehtonen.
Not far behind him in that category is new teammate Jhonas Enroth.
One of those goalies will start Friday night with the possibility open that Enroth will make his Stars debut in this home matchup with the Florida Panthers.
Dallas (25-21-8) is the NHL's second-highest scoring team with 3.15 goals per game behind Tyler Seguin, who is tied for third in the league with 29 goals and tied for second with 59 points.
The problem has been defensively. Lehtonen has faced 1,370 shots, and was forced to make 41 saves in Tuesday's 5-3 victory at Boston.
The Stars made a move to help take the load off their top goaltender Wednesday by acquiring Enroth from Buffalo in exchange for goalie Anders Lindback and a third-round 2016 pick.
Enroth faced 1,237 shots for a Sabres team that has surrendered the most in the league. His last Buffalo victory came Saturday when he beat the Stars with a 38-save effort, and he's excited about joining a team that is in the hunt for the playoffs.
"I am very excited to go to a team that actually wanted me and traded for me so it's nice to feel wanted I guess," Enroth said. "We're only a couple of points out of the playoffs here so we have a couple of real big games coming up."
Enroth previously played for coach Lindy Ruff when both were with the Sabres. Ruff is excited to be reunited with him.
"He's been in the biggest games, and we're going to have a lot of big games down the stretch," Ruff said. "I just think he is tested. I think his game has grown. He's faced a ton of rubber this year."
The Stars are entering a back-to-back set with a trip to Colorado on Saturday. Ruff said he will give Enroth the start in one of these games.
Lehtonen is 1-5-0 with a 4.12 goals-against average in his last six starts against the Panthers while Enroth is 2-1-1 with a 1.47 GAA in four career starts versus them.
Dallas will be without forward Antoine Roussel, who was suspended two games for a hit under the chin of Boston's Adam McQuaid that led to his ejection Tuesday.
Seguin missed practice due to the flu Thursday, though Ruff indicated his star will play. Veteran winger Travis Moen is likely to return from a five-game absence due to a lower-body injury.
Florida (24-18-11) comes to town without center Brandon Pirri and defenseman Willie Mitchell, both out with upper-body injuries.
The Panthers are also in need of points as they trail Boston by four in the race for the East's final playoff spot. They opened a back-to-back set with Thursday's 2-1 defeat at Minnesota in which Minneapolis native Nick Bjugstad scored their lone goal.
"Every game is important. We would have liked to have gotten it to overtime, but we didn't," said goalie Roberto Luongo, who made 21 saves. "We've got another one tomorrow, so the key is to put this one behind us."
It's unclear if Luongo will start a second straight night or give way to backup
Florida has captured the last three meetings.
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