Benn Scores Winner, Stars Take 5th Straight, 5-3 over Jets

DALLAS — Jamie Benn backhanded a tiebreaking goal with 4:21 left and the rolling Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 Thursday night after blowing a three-goal lead.

Jamie Benn Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Mattias Janmark returned from injury to score the first of three Dallas goals in the second period, all assisted by Corey Perry.

Patrik Laine got his 17th goal in 15 games against Dallas, and Luca Sbisa tied it with 4:46 left in the third.

Benn scored 25 seconds later, skating across the slot and slipping a shot into the right side of the net. He has four of his five goals this season in the last three games. Tyler Seguin added an empty-netter with 35 seconds to play.

In a game between two of the NHL’s hottest teams, the Stars won their fifth straight to go to 12-1-1 in the last 14 games and move ahead of Winnipeg for third place in the Central Division. The Jets had won 5 of 6 and five in a row on the road.

Ben Bishop made 23 saves in his sixth straight win. The Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck stopped 31 shots.

Winnipeg failed to connect during an extended power-play chance in the first. The Jets controlled the puck for more than a minute following a tripping penalty by Andrew Cogliano and got three shots on goal before Dallas could force a whistle. Winnipeg had no shots during the 2-minute power play.

Janmark scored at 7:37 of the second period. Perry dropped the puck back to Andrej Sekera at the right point. Hellebuyck made a pad save on Sekera’s shot, but the rebound went to Janmark for a wrist shot.

Mattias Janmark Dallas Stars
Mattias Janmark, Dallas Stars (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Dickinson gave the Stars a 2-0 lead at 9:43 when he tipped Taylor Fedun’s shot from the blue line over Hellebuyck’s left shoulder. The Jets challenged, claiming the play was offside, but the video replay upheld the goal.

Faksa’s shot from the right faceoff dot popped into the air in front of the net and the puck was knocked across the goal line at 13:19.

Winnipeg’s first goal came 39 seconds later, when Connor put a wrist shot past Bishop.

NOTES: Janmark missed four games because of a lower-body injury. … Faksa has an eight-game point streak. … Perry has a goal and four assists in the last two games, and two three-point games this season. His three assists were his most since he had four for Anaheim at Toronto Feb. 5, 2018. … Winnipeg C Mark Scheifele, who assisted on Connor’s goal, has 31 points in 27 games vs. Dallas.

UP NEXT

Jets: Play Columbus on Saturday in Winnipeg’s only home game in a stretch of eight games.

Stars: Host Chicago on Saturday in the third of four straight home games.

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The Associated Press