from Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News,

The veteran bench boss lit into Lehtonen for the second time this season, and with newfound furry after a 5-4 shootout loss to Colorado. Now, you can say Ruff was talking about the goaltending problem in general with this team (the back-ups are 2-12-0 on the season), but this dagger was clearly pointed at Lehtonen.

“I know this is hard, but the goaltending performance doesn’t match the effort of the team,” Ruff said. “You need goaltending. It’s as simple as that. There’s nights that he has to steal games, there’s nights where he has to out-perform the other guy. Our goaltending has been tough on our team, and I think that’s where the frustration is.”

To Ruff, there is logic there. His team allowed just seven shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, and Lehtonen still let in a soft goal. In fact, the Stars battled back to take a 3-1 lead early in the third period, and all Lehtonen had to do was weather the expected storm. It happens to all teams who hold a lead _ they simply are going to be outshot, and the goalie has to hold on and get the win....

And that has to be somewhere in Ruff’s brain when he’s watching these meltdowns - he has to wonder if his goalie has a loose wire, if he simply can’t handle pressure.

Maybe he’s testing him now to see how he responds. Maybe this is needed before the team makes a big decision in the summer.

But, if you ask me, Lehtonen isn’t good with extreme emotion .

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