Forward Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars has won his first career Art Ross Trophy, presented “to the player who leads the league in scoring points at the end of the regular season.”
Benn entered the final day of the regular season third in the League scoring race with 83 points, one behind Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby and New York Islanders forward John Tavares. Benn moved to the front by tallying four points (3-1–4) in a 4-1 win over Nashville, including a goal and an assist in the final 2:05 of the third period. His late surge increased his season total to 87 points (35-52–87), one more than Tavares (38-48–86), who notched a goal and an assist in a 5-4 shootout loss to Columbus, and three more than Crosby (28-56–84), who did not record a point in his team’s 2-0 win at Buffalo that clinched the Penguins a playoff berth. Benn, the first player in Stars history to win the scoring title, notched multiple points in five of his final six games of the season (7-8–15), including 10 points in his last three contests. The Stars captain established career highs in goals, assists and points, ahead of his previous highs of 34, 45 and 79, respectively, set in 2013-14.