The Dallas Stars' red-hot stretch drive came too late to make a serious run at a spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Even in going 14-5-0 over the final 19 games of the season, Dallas finished seven points out of the lower wildcard seed despite holding the regulation/overtime tiebreaker advantage over the playoff-bound Winnipeg Jets by the end of the season.
There was, however, one big individual honor accomplished by a member of the Stars: team captain Jamie Benn rocketed up the NHL scoring charts in the final few weeks of the season to win the Art Ross Trophy on the final night of the season. Over the final 19 games of the season, Benn produced 13 goals, 15 assists and 28 points while recording at least one point in 15 of the games.
On Saturday night, Benn broke loose for a four-point effort (hat trick and an assist) in a 4-1 home win over the Nashville Predators. His third goal was an empty netter with 2:05 left in the third period and then he added an assist with nine ticks left on the clock.
As a result the 25-year-old left winger finished the season with 87 points (35 goals, 52 assists) while dressing in all 82 games. He edged out the New York Islanders' John Tavares (38 goals, 48 assists) by a single point for the Art Ross Trophy.
The late assist was the difference-maker in giving Benn the scoring championship. If Benn and Tavares had finished tied in points, the Islanders' star center would have won the award on the tie-breaking basis of having scored more goals.
Despite the disappointment of the team burying itself too far in the standings to make the stretch drive truly meaningful, Benn's accomplishment was quite impressive. Prolific scoring linemate Tyler Seguin (seventh in the scoring race with 77 points in 71 games) was a healthy scratch in the Nashville game as a result of showing up late for practice on Friday. Previously, Seguin missed significant time with a knee injury sustained as the result of a controversial low-bridge hit by Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov on Feb. 13.
Jhonas Enroth, who got a run of starts at the tail end of the season, stopped 24 of 25 shots to earn the victory in the finale against the Predators.