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Stars pick up Lehtonen, edge Avs in OT

Nov 5, 2011 - 5:16 AM Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Kari Lehtonen had an off-night, so the Dallas Stars scored seven goals to pick him up.

They needed all seven.

Loui Eriksson scored off a defender's body with 1:05 remaining in overtime Friday night and Dallas beat the Colorado Avalanche, 7-6, despite falling behind three times during the game.

Lehtonen, after going 8-1 in October with a 1.75 goals-against average and .947 save percentage, gave up six goals on 40 shots.

A wild game that featured five power play goals ended when Eriksson carried the puck around the Dallas net and slid a shot on net that hit off Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson as he fell near the crease.

Eriksson had two goals and Sheldon Souray, Vernon Fiddler, Alex Goligoski, Eric Nystrom and Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars, who went 2-1 on a three-game homestand.

Benn's goal tied the game for Dallas at 6-6 with 4:10 remaining in regulation.

"It was like the 80s again," Stars forward Brenden Morrow said of the high- scoring game. "I think we're going to chalk this one up to a little rust."

Dallas had been off since last Saturday.

Matt Duchene had his first career hat trick and a career-high four points for the Avalanche, who fell to 1-3-1 in their last five games. Semyon Varlamov gave up seven goals on 29 shots.

"It's frustrating. It was one of those games where everything seemed to be going in," Duchene said. "It's disappointing to give that game up."

Lehtonen only allowed 16 goals in his first nine games and set a club record by winning his first seven starts of the season.

But his goals-against average went up after the first period alone, when Jay McClement scored on a rebound and Duchene beat him with a wrist shot on a power play for a 2-0 Colorado lead.

The teams combined for six goals in the second period, with Dallas scoring the first four to take the lead.

Eriksson's first goal of the game, on a power play, also went off an opponent -- the goaltender Varlamov, who reached up to stop a fluttering puck and knocked it into the net with his blocker instead.

Souray's screened shot went through on a power play to tie the game and Fiddler scored on a transition to make it 3-2 after Lehtonen had stoned Gabriel Landeskog at the other end.

Goligoski's power play tally on a slap shot from the point capped a four-goal flurry for Dallas with 2:58 left in the second, but Colorado tied the game before the period was over on goals by Duchene and Paul Stastny.

Daniel Winnik and Nystrom exchanged goals in the first 6:01 of the third and Duchene completed his hat trick with a power play tally at 8:32, stickhandling through four defenders on the right side to give Colorado a 6-5 lead.

Later, Benn was in front of the net and got a piece of Stephane Robidas' shot from above the right circle to tie the game for Dallas.

Said Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan: "It was one of those nights you don't like as a coach, but if you came to the game and sat in your seat you got your money's worth."

Game Notes

Dallas was 3-for-6 on the power play and Colorado went 2-for-5...The Stars are headed on four-game road trip that starts Sunday afternoon at Carolina...The Avs have lost nine of their last 12 games in Dallas...Lehtonen's GAA rose to 2.16 and his save percentage fell to .936.