Three Stars: Lehtonen, Arvidsson keep their teams’ seasons alive

It was an exciting day in the NHL, as the Stars beat the Blues to force a Game 7 and the Predators were victorious over the Sharks to also force a Game 7. Here’s who stood out to us.

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It was an exciting day in the NHL on Monday, as the Dallas Stars beat the St. louis Blues to force a Game 7 and the Nashville Predators were victorious in overtime over the San Jose Sharks to also force a Game 7.

Here’s who stood out to us:

Kari Lehtonen, Stars

Maybe it’s time for Stars fans to stop fretting about the state of their netminding. Lehtonen turned in his third consecutive quality start to send this series back to Dallas for Game 7. Lehtonen stopped 35 of 37 shots on the night, including a highlight-reel worthy save on Jaden Schwartz in the dying seconds, to steal Game 6 from a hungrier and more dangerous Blues squad.

#http://www.120sports.com/video/v177150430/stars-tie-series-force-game-7

Viktor Arvidsson, Predators

Watch: Preds' Arvidsson scores OT winner, forces Game 7 vs. Sharks

Nashville’s super-pest secured a place for himself in franchise history with his first-ever postseason goal. The 23-year-old rookie turned on the jets at the blueline, drove around a Sharks defender to the right face-off dot and launched a nasty backhand that beat Martin Jones’s high glove at 2:03 of overtime to send this series to Game 7.

Chris Tierney, Sharks

The Cobra did his level best to end this series, staking the Sharks to a 2–0 lead with a pair of goals in the first 12 minutes of the contest. He followed up his first, a barely legal re-direct that fooled Pekka Rinne down low, with an opportunistic rebound into a gaping cage. Not a bad night for a rookie who had only one playoff goal in 10 games coming into this contest.