The Dallas Stars will add captain Jamie Benn back to the lineup in Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings per Lia Assimakopoulos of The Dallas Morning News. Benn has missed the last three games with a nose injury sustained on January 4th.
Benn was seen sporting a visor during Monday’s practice, a surprising move for one of the league’s few remaining players who do not wear face protection. The NHL began requiring visors in 2013 but grandfathered in current players who choose not to wear one. 13 years later, three other players continue to not wear a visor: Ryan O’Reilly, Zach Bogosian, and Ryan Reaves.
Head coach Glen Gulutzan joked about Benn’s visor, having coached the captain in the AHL – where all players must wear visors – back in 2010, as captured by Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports. Benn wore a visor during his rookie NHL season but hasn’t worn one since, save for one game in January 2017 after his nose was broken by a high stick, per Sam Nestler of DLLS Sports.
Dallas posted a 1-1-1 record in Benn’s absence and scored at least three goals in every game. They will welcome another offensive spark after losing Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks in overtime. Benn hasn’t found his usual offensive spark this season, though. He missed the start of the year due to a collapsed lung and has only scored 14 points, split evenly, in 23 games since. Most of that scoring has come in chunks since December, with Benn sporting two four-game scoring droughts split by a four-game point streak over the last month-and-a-half.
Benn’s return could prompt some shifting in Dallas’ lineup. He has spent the bulk of his time this season alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson – a role that was taken over by Mavrik Bourque over the last three games. Bourque scored one point in the trial run, likely low enough to bump him back to a tandem with Matt Duchene and Justin Hryckowian, while Colin Blackwell falls out of the lineup. Benn could also return to a role on the power-play in place of Bourque or Hryckowian.
Dallas will look to snap a recent lull with their captain back in the lineup. The Stars have posted a 1-3-4 record in their last eight games, a far fall from the 8-2-1 record they posted in their first 11 games of December. Benn was a core member of the lineup through that winning stretch and should bring the Stars lineup closer to normal, though they still face injuries to Tyler Seguin and Lian Bichsel.