Lehtonen has good workout, could play Thursday

Kari Lehtonen has missed four games with a sore back, but he had a good workout Wednesday in Frisco and could be the starter Thursday against the San Jose Sharks.

"Kari looks like he is getting more and more ready to play,'' Stars coach Marc Crawford said. ``There is a strong possibility for tomorrow and if he's ready he'll go. He was very positive today on his outing."

At the very least, he will sit on the bench _ as the Stars today sent Richard Bachman and Aaron Gagnon to the Texas Stars. That also opens the door for Toby Petersen (hand) or Krys Barch (foot) to return to the lineup. Both practiced and either could come off of IR.

Brenden Morrow missed practice today to have some work done on his broken nose, but the guess here is that Morrow will be in the lineup Thursday.