Stars' captain has been fined
Photo credit: USA Today
Stars' captain Jamie Benn has been punished by the league.
The NHL has fined Benn $5,000 for sucker-punching Jets forward Mark Scheifele in Game 5 on Thursday.
Stars' captain Jamie Benn has been fined ahead of Game 6.
Mike Brehm from USA Today writes that with the Jets up 3-0 on Thursday, Benn and Scheifele got into a scuffle along the boards. Benn took Scheifele down, prompting Brandon Tanev of Winnipeg to jump in from behind and escalate the scrum.
Jamie Benn just absolutely socks Mark Scheifele.
As Scheifele was getting up, he seemed to kick his skate toward Benn. While being restrained by linesman Ryan Daisy, Benn landed a punch to Scheifele's jaw, sending both Scheifele and the official to the ice. Scheifele tried to retaliate but was held back.
Stars head coach Peter DeBoer says that the intense physicality is all part of the game, especially come playoff time.
"It's an emotional series. You play this time of year against one team and there gets to be a little bit of hate out there. That's OK." -DeBoer
Scheifele also addressed the incident with reporters on Friday.
"It was hard for me to understand what was going on. My face hurts. There's not much I can say in this situation. I think that money goes to the retired players fund, so that's great." -Scheifele
Benn was assessed a minor penalty for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, while Tanev received the same. Scheifele also got a two-minute roughing penalty, putting the Jets on the penalty kill.
Jets head coach Scott Arniel weighed in with his thoughts on the play.
"I wasn't real happy with how that came out. We were the ones who were up in the game. I don't think we should have come out of that pileup having the extra minor." -Arniel
The Jets secured a 4-0 victory to keep their second-round hopes alive. Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 22 shots he faced for his second straight shutout at home. Nikolaj Ehlers netted two goals, while Mark Scheifele opened the scoring and Vladislav Namestnikov also found the back of the net.
The Stars still hold a 3-2 series lead and will have a chance to close it out at home in Dallas on Saturday. Despite being the top seed, the Jets are winless on the road this postseason at 0-5, with Connor Hellebuyck having been pulled in three games during the first round.
Game 6 is set for tomorrow at 8:00pm in Dallas.
| POLL | ||
MAI 16 | 7 ANSWERS Stars' captain has been fined Do you think Jamie Benn should have been suspended for a game as well? | ||
| yes | 7 | 100 % |
| no | 0 | 0 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
