It was not a good night for the Dallas Stars. Already down 2-0 in their third-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, the team allowed Jonathan Marchessault to get free in the left circle and wire home his seventh goal of the playoffs. Less than a minute later, captain Jamie Benn would let his frustration get the better of him, delivering a cross-check to a prone Mark Stone.
The incident would result in a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for Benn, who played just 42 seconds in a must-win game. The Stars would lose 4-0, fans would throw trash onto the ice, forcing team president Brad Alberts to issue a public apology, and now, all but eliminated, will likely be without Benn for at least another game.
Benn will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety today to determine if supplemental discipline is required.
The Stars captain refused to take questions after the game, and may not get another chance to hit the ice, should a suspension come down the pipe. Vegas managed just 16 shots on goal last night but still somehow cruised to an easy victory, inching them closer to another Stanley Cup Final appearance.
Benn had a brilliant bounce-back season with 78 points in 82 games (his highest total since 2018) but has struggled to find the back of the net in the playoffs. He now has three goals in 16 games while recording 51 penalty minutes.
It needs to be more than one game though there may not be more than one more game.
There was no injury on the play, though it looked bad but clearly it wasn’t that bad, a game misconduct should be assessed when the opposing player is injured on the play, seems a little soft to me
He looked at the player before cross checking him under the ear and to the neck
The fact that he wasn’t successful in injuring Stone (couldn’t even do that right) shouldn’t make a difference.
The fact that Benn already missed basically an entire playoff game because of it might preclude him from getting another one, but I don’t think anyone should be mad if Benn gets suspended for Game 4.
So I guess if I shoot at someone on a street corner but miss his head it should be a no harm no foul kind of thing. The penalty and punishment is for the intent, not for how successful or not the player was at acting on his intent.
16 shots on goal. 4 goals. And a shutout. That is downright embarrassing for Dallas, in a playoff game. Like shame on those fans that threw trash on the ice, that’s some peak entitlement BS. But that performance has to be one of the worst in playoff history.
League is salivating at a Vegas Cup victory.
Florida will interfere with that, all 3 teams they beat and about to beat are better than any team in the West this year
As a Panthers fan… We kinda deserve one after Patrick Roy robbed us in 96. JUST SAYING. And much as I love Mellanby, Vanbiesbrouck and crew… This is a better team. Took the whole season for things to come together, but things are TOGETHER fam.
What an egregious display by a guy that where’s the C, Real leaders don’t pull brain dead stunts like Benn pulled. NICE GAME PRETTY BOY!!!!!!
no injury on the play, it wasn’t as bad as it looked, soft call. im not a fan of either team but y’all are overreacting, Stone didn’t even miss a shift so the play obviously wasn’t that serious
@NSco1996 – The problem is, contact was directed at the head & neck area, and Stone was in a defenseless position. More often than not, the target of a headshot is upright, or at least somewhat upright. The fact that he didn’t miss a shift doesn’t matter in cases like this. The possibility of injury to that area of the body has already landed Bettman in hot water with lawsuits.
Benn clearly intended to injure Stone.
Yeah, you said that above – you were wrong then too. That was as clear an intent to injure play as I have seen in a long time. Incompetence when attempting to injure does not deserve a free pass.
Boneheaded play that took his team right out of the game.
Who does this in the 2nd minute of a game????
Like, how angry were you before puck-drop?
Hey was trying to be the catalyst to spark life and fight into his team and the home crowd. Didn’t work out the way he wanted it to. Oops.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just a fine and the league views the major as a one game suspension that he already served. Idiotic play nonetheless.
Agreed.
Hockey was so much better when an opposing player would drop the gloves and go after Benn
Hockey has turned into figure skating
And now the Captain has, basically, blamed somebody else’s dog for landing on Stone the way he did.
To the surprise of *checks notes* no one
He could have easily broken Stone neck. Very least a game If not more. It is nhl they will say He missed last game . Good enough.
The Stars and their fans have really shamed themselves on the national stage. A glaring example of poor sportsmanship and bad behavior. This is clearly an organization incapable of dealing with their own underachievement in important games. Jim Nill should be held accountable for this implosion.
There is no shame with how Dallas has performed all year, and up to this series. How many teams would dream to get into the 3rd round. I’m rooting for Dallas, even though they aren’t my team. Unfortunately they look outmatched. Calling for Jim Nill’s head is crazy. Look at his success in the draft. Dallas is nearly always in the mix nearly every year too.
They have disgraced themselves. The NHL clearly decided Benn’s behavior was worthy of accountability. As for Nill, he built a team that imploded when it counted most.
Totally agree that Benn is a goon, and what a poor time to lose your temper. Glad Stone was not injured. I immediately thought of how his cheap shot to Larkin ended his season in recent history.
I think Nill is a good GM. He has drafted some gems. But regarding the team performance, I think They got manhandled by a better playoff team. And I severely hate Vegas after the MAF debacle, so I’m certainly not spreading the love on Vegas. I hope they get their lunch eaten by MT and the Florida Rats in the finals.
Look at Dallas and their young superstars… the future is bright with a great goalie, great goal scorers and a stud defenseman. They end the season with a bitter taste. Failure is a great teacher, so we will see what they are made out of…
Benn has explained the events from last night today and his words were pretty lame . It was alot of eye rolling B.S. apparently he thinks we are all stupid.
He should be gone for the series which is likely to be one more game.
The league should give him 3 games for the head shot & the Stars should give him another 3 games just for being so insanely brain dead.