Lehtonen return could impact Sharks' goalie situation

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A couple of the Sharks' division rivals made news on Tuesday.

First, in Dallas, starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen has rejoined the team after recovering from a groin injury that has kept him sidelined since Nov. 26. In order to make room for Lehtonen, Dallas placed veteran Andrew Raycroft on waivers, making Richard Bachman the full-time backup.

In eight NHL games with the Stars while Lehtonen has been injured, Bachman is 5-2-0 with a 2.76 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.

Any other NHL team can pick up Raycroft by 9 a.m. PST on Thursday, and his availability may hinder the Sharks ability to try and move one of their three healthy goaltenders. There has already been speculation that San Jose is trying to move veteran Antero Niittymaki, but Niittymaki has yet to play in a game since recovering from hip surgery in September.

The Sharks and Stars meet again on Feb. 2 at HP Pavilion.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings could be without Simon Gagne for a while, after the veteran forward suffered a concussion according to ESPN.coms Pierre Lebrun.

He was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday morning with what the Kings are calling an upper-body injury.

Concussion problems are nothing new for Gagne, who missed most of the 2007-08 season with multiple head injuries. In 34 games, he has seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points.

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