Benn Tallies Twice in Stars 4 – 2 Win Over Penguins

Jamie Benn continued his scorching play in March, scoring two more goals, his 14th and 15th of the season, to lead the Dallas Stars to a 4 – 2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Friday night at the American Airlines Center. Jason Robertson added two assists for Dallas, with Joe Pavelski and Sam Steel also finding the back of the net in the victory. Jake Oettinger stopped 20 of 22 Penguins shots on the night.

The Stars Captain already has six goals and 13 points in nine March contests after posting just nine goals and 35 points in his first 62 games of the season. He appears to be heating up at an opportune time, with Dallas battling Colorado and Winnipeg for Central Division supremacy. The Stars moved ahead of Winnipeg and into a tie with Colorado with 95 points, but both rivals have games in hand.

Pittsburgh, on the verge of missing the postseason for the second consecutive campaign, are nine points behind in the wild card race and would have to leapfrog four other teams in the standings to have a chance to sneak in. Goals for the Penguins came from Michael Bunting, who also added a helper, and Rickard Rakell. Evgeni Malkin finished with two assists, but Sidney Crosby was kept off the score sheet. Tristan Jarry allowed four goals on just 20 shots before being pulled at the 4:37 mark of the final period.

Dallas could use a little help from their friends this weekend with Winnipeg on Long Island to challenge the Islanders in the first half of a Saturday-Sunday back-to-back for the Jets. Today, the Jets travel to Washington D.C. to play the Capitals.

Meanwhile the Avalanche are set to host the Penguins Sunday afternoon for a nationally televised contest on TNT.

The Stars head out onto the road, travelling to Arizona for a Sunday evening tilt against the Coyote.

Deadline Additions Paying Off in Colorado and Winnipeg

While the Stars were relatively quiet in the days leading up to the trade deadline, acquiring Chris Tanev from Calgary, their chief competitors in the Division were quite active. And so far, the early returns are strong for both the Avalanche and Jets.

Winnipeg brought in Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli to improve the offensive attack, while Colin Miller was added for depth on the blue line. In 21 games in Winnipeg, Monahan has eight goals and 15 points, with five assists in his last five contests. He’s also won 54% of his faceoffs since joining the club.

Toffoli has netted four goals and six points in six contests since the trade and reached the 30-goal plateau for the second straight season and third overall in his career. Toffoli’s underlying numbers are solid too, albeit in a relatively small sample. While at 5v5, the Jets see 56% of the shot attempts and have an Expected Goals % of 52.4% with Toffoli on the ice.

The Avalanche appear to have solved their need for a second-line center by acquiring Casey Mittlelstadt from Buffalo in exchange for defenseman Bowen Byram. Mittelstadt is off to a good start in Colorado, with points in five straight and overall two goals, with three assists in six games.

The Avalanche could afford to deal the talented Byram away in part because of their earlier acquisition of Sean Walker. The 29-year-old former Flyer has fit right in on the Colorado blue line. The team owns a 54% share of shot attempts and a 55.5% goal share with Walker on the ice at 5v5. The pending UFA has also tallied two goals and an assist for the Avalanche.

As the standings currently set, the winner of the Central Division would be the #2 seed in the West and match up with the #7 seed. Right now that would be the Nashville Predators, who have been a pleasant surprise this season. Yet for Dallas, that’s probably a fate preferable to playing against one of Colorado or Winnipeg in round one.

Although we shouldn’t forget about Vegas, who sit five points behind Nashville as the eight seed. The Golden Knights added Noah Hanifin, Anthony Mantha and Tomas Hertl at the deadline and could welcome back Mark Stone to the lineup at some point in the postseason. The defending champions will make a formidable opponent even as the final wild card. But if they move up and pass Nashville, it could be the Central Division champs that see the Golden Knights in the opening round.

Regardless of where they end up in the division, or how the wild cards shake out, the Stars will have a challenging path to the Stanley Cup Final.