Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin benched

Dallas Stars’ Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin benched versus New York Rangers

The Dallas Stars, leaders of the Central Division, took on the New York Rangers Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Prior to this contest, the Stars had 60 points and are the leaders of the Western Conference. The Rangers had 46 points and were winners of 14 of their first 20 home dates. To some, the contest could have been perceived as a potential Stanley Cup Final series. The Rangers defeated the Stars 6-2.

However, that was not the biggest part of the story. The Stars’ two biggest players, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, finished with a minus -3 and both were held off the scoreboard. Benn has 52 points and is currently only behind Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks in league scoring. Seguin is close behind with 50 points.

Sportsnet was able to catch a quote from Star forward, Benn. He described the game as “stupid hockey” and “not good enough”. Benn went a step further and was quoted as saying to the MSG reporters after the game, “It’s pretty much embarrassing. I played a terrible game and let my teammates down.”

Seguin and Benn both realized they had games to forget and so did head coach Lindy Ruff, who benched both superstars for the final dozen minutes of the third period.

“They had a tough night. There’s no getting around it,” Ruff said. “They (allowed) a lot of opportunities against and by the end of the night I just didn’t play them anymore. We need those guys… They’re going through a tough spell.”

That is so true as they have lost five of their last seven games. Every team goes through struggles at various points of the season and it now appears to be Dallas’ turn. Their next game is on Thursday hosting the visiting Winnipeg Jets.