USA DAWN: NEWS AND UPDATES

LM Otero/AP Photo Troy Brouwer , left, celebrates his goal with teammate Paul Stastny during the second period of Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Stars in Dallas on Wednesday night. DALLAS — It was the pot that took turns moving from back burner to front all through the Western Conference semifinal, but it was always there on the stovetop, bubbling … Could Lindy Ruff find a warm body to give the Dallas Stars a consistent effort in goal? He thought he had. After being pulled from Game 2 and reinstalled as the starter from Game 4 onward, Kari Lehtonen had teased his coach. Made him believe again. And then came Game 7, and the pot boiled over. Lehtonen surrendered three first-period goals, all of them soft, and when his replacement, Antti Niemi, was beaten from the right wing by a David Backes slapshot 3:50 into the second, it was all over but the crying in Big D. It ended 6-1, Patrick Eaves scoring the Stars’ lone goal 5:15 into the t...