Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn had quite the game on Saturday night versus the Nashville Predators. He scored a hat trick and added an assist as the Stars finished a disappointing season where they missed the playoffs again.
Jamie Benn Wins Art Ross
He started the scoring in the first period and from then on, the Stars controlled the game. He had four shots on net and completed the hat trick with an empty net goal with less than 3 minutes left in the game. Benn added his assist 2 minutes later when Cody Eakin put the stake in the games with 9 seconds left in the contest.
With Benn notching 4 points, he clinched the Art Ross Trophy, which is awarded to the player with the most points at the end of the year. He finished with 35 goals and 52 assists for 87 points. John Tavares and Sidney Crosby were just 1 and 3 points behind, respectively. He is the first player in franchise history to win the scoring race.
This 87 point season ties the lowest scoring season since 1967-68, when Stan Mikita had 40 goals and 87 points. There were only 12 teams in that era also.
The Predators will be advancing on to the playoffs, while Benn and his team will be golfing and wondering what went wrong and how a squad that is stacked in the top six as the Stars are, could miss the playoffs. In the past seven seasons, the Stars have only made the playoffs once. The Stars took some big steps this offseason acquiring some new names, but it didn’t work out the way they had hoped.
A fifth round draft pick, Jamie Benn is the lowest drafted player ever to win the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring leader.
Main Photo: DALLAS, TX – JANUARY 02: Jamie Benn #14 of the Dallas Stars celebrates his goal with Tyler Seguin #91 against the Montreal Canadiens in the first period at American Airlines Center on January 2, 2014 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
