Kari Lehtonen’s utter futility against the Flyers began during the 2005-06 season when he was in Atlanta as a Thrasher.
Nine years and 14 games later, it finally ended on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center with a 2-1 victory over the Flyers (see game story).
It was his first career win against the orange and black (1-10-3).
Except this time, he’s a member of the Dallas Stars.
“It’s been so long,” said the 31-year-old goalie. “It was nice. Sometimes it [sticks] in the back of my mind with a little bit left in the game.
“Today it didn’t. Was able to focus tonight. We did really good job in the third period. One or two shots and that’s about it. These guys played really well. We earned the win.”
Incredibly, he said his teammates were unaware of this burden he’s carried around so long.
“I don’t think they know about it,” Lehtonen said. “The coach [Lindy Ruff] mentioned it a little bit when he came to the locker room.”
While Steve Mason had a number of tough saves among the 37 shots he faced, Lehtonen had fewer among the 26 shots he faced.
One chance really stood out. It came in the final period against Jakub Voracek, who swatted a puck out of the air and nearly scored on what would have broken a 1-1 tie.
“It was really nifty move,” Lehtonen said of Voracek’s shot. “I don’t think it touched the ice. My blocker was in the right spot. I didn’t have time to move or react. It was quick play.
“There were couple other chances Voracek had. I got lucky in net on couple of them. So have to be happy about that. Good or bad.”
Voracek, who had six shots, agreed.
“Like I said, I think we had good scoring chances and good looks,” he said. “If we would have scored a couple goals in the second period we wouldn’t be here talking about it.”