Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn received a 10-minute misconduct Thursday night after he sucker-punched Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele during the third period.
With the Jets leading 3-0, Benn and Scheifele started tussling along the boards. Benn pulled Scheifele down and Winnipeg’s Brandon Tanev grabbed Benn from behind, adding to the scrum.
Scheifele appeared to push his skate toward Benn as he was getting up. As Scheifele was held by linesman Ryan Daisy, Benn delivered a punch to Scheifele’s jaw, knocking over both the Jets player and the on-ice official. Scheifele tried to get back at Benn but was kept away.
‘It’s an emotional series,’ Stars coach Peter DeBoer told reporters. ‘You play this time of year against one team and there gets to be a little bit of hate out there. That’s OK.’
Benn received a roughing minor and a misconduct, as did Tanev. Scheifele received two minutes for roughing, leaving the Jets short-handed.
‘I wasn’t real happy with how that came out,’ Jets coach Scott Arniel told reporters. ‘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.’
The Jets ended up winning the game 4-0 to stay alive in the second-round series. Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves to pick up his second consecutive home shutout. Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice, Scheifele opened the scoring and Vladislav Namestnikov added a goal.
The Stars still lead the series 3-2 and can wrap it up in Dallas on Saturday. The No. 1 overall Jets are 0-5 on the road this postseason, with Hellebuyck being pulled three times in the first round.
(This story has been updated with new information.)
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