The standout players for the Dallas Stars Tuesday night were the trio of Loui Eriksson, Michael Ryder and Mike Ribeiro. When regulation ended in a 3-3 tie, it wasn't difficult to see that the line, which accounted for all three Dallas goals, was the reason the Stars picked up a point.
But Kari Lehtonen was the reason Dallas got both of them. Shortly after the Stars went up 3-1, the Coyotes turned the game around, and they carried that momentum right through regulation, outshooting the Stars 5-1 in overtime. Lehtonen stopped them all. Considering there was no margin for error, they were all big saves, but one stood out just a little more than the others, perhaps because it was arguably a save of the year candidate:
That is hardcore banditry right there. What an incredible save.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson couldn't believe it, and neither could we. Lehtonen had already begun going down when Martin Hanzel fed that puck across, which meant he wasn't going to be able to push from side-to-side with his body. The entire top half of the net was going to be exposed.
So, in desperation, Lehtonen threw his legs up into the air, hoping to get a pad on it.
And he did. And it was amazing.
If Ekman-Larsson couldn't beat Lehtonen on that shot, nothing was getting by the Stars netminder on this night, and sure enough, nothing did. Lehtonen stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout to give the Stars the 4-3 win and put them back atop the Pacific Division to end the night.
Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney