Stars Finish Season With Win
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DALLAS – Dallas Stars left winger and captain Jamie Benn finished a record-breaking season in style with a hat-trick and goalie Jhonas Enroth stopped 24 of 25 shots as the Stars sent the Nashville Predators to a sixth straight defeat, 4-1, at American Airlines Center on Saturday night.
Benn, who finished with 87 points, won the Art Ross Trophy, given to the NHL’s points leader, by one point over New York Islanders center John Tavares, who finished with 86.
“It felt good,” Benn said. “It’s a little bittersweet because obviously we’re not in the playoffs. But it was pretty special to see your teammates work so hard for you.”
Two of Benn’s goals came in the first period while the other came when he scored into the empty net with 2:05 remaining. Benn then assisted on a goal by center Cody Eakin with nine seconds remaining to secure the Art Ross, the first such winner in Stars history.
“I think it was obvious the whole team was trying to help him (Benn) out, and he gave it everything he had,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “The first two goals, the first shot was a great shot and the power-play redirection was a real good look by (Klingberg). And then he got the opportunity with the empty-netter, and I think the last goal was just getting above
the puck and making the last guy try to pass it to him and being on the right side of it.”
Eakin had a goal and an assist for Dallas (41-31-10), which finished the season on a four-game winning streak.
Nashville (47-25-10) got its lone goal from rookie center Filip Forsberg in the first period. The Predators finished second in the Central Division and return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2012.
The Predators will face Chicago in the first round of the playoffs in a best-of-seven series beginning Wednesday in Nashville.
“Well, there’s some positives through the time up until we pulled the goalie,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “We had lots of chances to tie it up and push the overtime. Our guys kept pulling and fighting. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t tie it up. At this point, we’re moving on and looking forward to Wednesday.”
On Saturday, Benn scored his 33rd of the season 7:35 into the game, beating Predators backup goalie Carter Hutton with a snap from the left circle. Eakin set Benn up with a backhanded pass and Benn finished, his flick sailing in over Hutton’s glove.
Nashville tied it at 11:33 of the first period when Forsberg scored his 26th of the season, on a deflection. Forsberg was in front of the Dallas net when he redirected a shot by Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis from the slot.
The Stars regained the lead exactly two minutes later when Benn scored his second of the game four seconds into a power play. Benn won a faceoff in the left circle with Predators center Paul Gaustad, getting the puck to rookie defenseman John Klingberg.
Benn then got his stick on Klingberg’s shot from the left point, beating Hutton top shelf to his short side for his 34th of the season.
Dallas was on the power play after Nashville left winger Viktor Stalberg was called for tripping at 13:29 of the first period.
Benn completed the hat trick with 2:05 remaining, scoring into the empty net nearly two minutes after Hutton headed to the bench.
Eakin then punctuated the scoring with his 19th of the season at 19:51 of the third period, knocking a pass from defenseman Trevor Daley through Hutton’s five-hole.
Hutton stopped 21 of 24 shots for Nashville.
“Fortunately we’ve got a couple days to get back to work at practice, get our game in order and get our mind in order and get ready for a big challenge in Chicago,” Nashville center Matt Cullen said.
