Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn has been fined $5,000 for roughing Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele.
The two players came together near the benches late in Thursday’s Game 5, with both teams converging. There was plenty of pushing and shoving, some wrestling, and an unexpected gloved punch from Benn as Scheifele was being restrained by linesperson Ryan Daisy. The punch sent the Jets’ forward and the official to the ice.
Benn was given a minor penalty for roughing by referees Wes McCauley and TJ Luxmore, along with a 10-minute misconduct.
There was no call for abuse of officials on the play, as Daisy was not punched but was holding on Scheifele as he was knocked down.
When the dust settled, Scheifele picked up an offsetting minor for roughing and Winnipeg’s Brandon Tanev was called for a 2 and 10 of his own. Somehow, the Stars – trailing 3-0 at the time – ended up with a power play.
“It was hard for me to understand what was going on,” Scheifele said on Friday. “My face hurts.”
Benn’s $5,000 fine is the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement without a hearing, as we were reminded last week when Vegas Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy was fined $7.812.
The Winnipeg Jets went on to defeat the Dallas Stars 4-0; Dallas leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. Officials for the game were refs Wes McCauley (#4) and TJ Luxmore (#21) with linespersons Ryan Daisy (#81) and Ryan Gibbons (#58).
