NEWARK, N.J. - Maybe the most frustrating concern for Stars fans in recent years has been goaltending.

A team that once took home annual awards, with Ed Belfour and Marty Turco leading the way, has more recently been struggling at the bottom of the NHL with no real prospects in sight. Just as frustrating, the Stars have spent as much as any team in the NHL trying to solve the problem and have not been rewarded for it.

Last year, Dallas ranked 29th in goals-against average and 30th in save percentage while paying its two goalies a combined $10.4 million.

So while Kari Lehtonen is in a nice run of earning three straight starts and the Stars have pushed up to 11th in goals-against average, it might be a good time to say there could be light at the end of the goaltending tunnel.

Dallas signed Ben Bishop to a six-year contract in the summer, Lehtonen is assimilating to the role of backup, and 22-year-old Landon Bow is hitting his stride at the AHL level with a 10-5-0 record and 2.68 GAA. What's more, 19-year-old Colton Point and 18-year-old Jake Oettinger are playing well at the collegiate level.

"It's a good feeling for us right now," general manager Jim Nill said. "I think we are in a good place at the NHL level where we have good competition and protection from an injury, and we're also in a good place with our younger goalies."

It hasn't always been that way. Nill inherited a five-year contract extension for Lehtonen at $5.9 million per year when he took over the team in 2013, and he has had to work around that. He tried to support Lehtonen with veteran backups such as Tim Thomas, Dan Ellis, Jhonas Enroth and Anders Lindback with mixed results. He then tried to go with a two-headed approach by signing Antti Niemi at $4.5 million to create the most expensive goaltending duo in the league, but that also fizzled out.

In the meantime, goaltender-of-the future Jack Campbell simply couldn't earn the top spot in the AHL and eventually worked his way out of the organization.

That forced Nill to come up with a new plan. He signed Bow as a free agent for the minors, drafted Point and Oettinger, and then traded for Bishop's rights and signed him to a long-term deal. It was an aggressive makeover but one that Nill knew was needed.

While he was hopeful of acquiring a goalie of Bishop's caliber earlier in the process, deals couldn't be consummated. So when Bishop was headed toward free agency, Nill swooped in and acquired the two-time Vezina Trophy finalist at what could prove to be a bargain price of $4.9 million per season.

"It's not easy to just go out and get a goalie," Nill said. "There are only a few elite goalies out there, and most teams aren't giving them up, so you definitely have to work hard and get lucky sometimes."

Now, the combination of Bishop, 31, and Lehtonen, 34, could bring the Stars' goaltending back into the top half of the league again.

"I think Ben is one of the best goalies in the league, and we're lucky to have him," Nill said. "That's put Kari in a good position, and Kari is not giving up his games, which is the best part. We've got two goalies, and they both want to push each other."

With Lehtonen's $5.9 million contract ending in July, there is a chance he could re-sign at a reduced rate for next season to bring down the team cap hit for the positon. And if Bow is developing and the kids are moving quickly through college, then maybe the good ol' days of Stars' goaltending could resurface.

"We're in a very unique situation in that we have two starters," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said as he planned to start Lehtonen on Friday at New Jersey and Bishop on Saturday at Philadelphia. "We have two guys who know how to start, they know how to carry the ball, they know how to manage their body clocks, and it's very effective for us. We're in good shape."

And that's something fans in Dallas haven't said for quite some time.

Twitter: @MikeHeika

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The Stars are hoping they're moving in the right direction with their goaltending after a long search for a good mix. Here are the Stars' goaltending numbers since Jim Nill took over as general manager in 2013: