The NHL playoff game between the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars turned into a chaotic line brawl during a third-period dust-up that saw a massive cheap shot from Dallas captain Jamie Benn.
Facing elimination, the Jets had a 3-0 lead with less than seven minutes remaining in the game.
The puck is far away from the benches when play is stopped due to a scuffle between several members of both teams in front of the Stars’ contingent.
In the skirmish are Benn alongside the Winnipeg duo of Mark Scheifele and Brandon Tanev, with cameras first showing a downed Scheifele with Benn towering over him and Tanev pulling the opposing captain away before more players join the choas.
All four referees are involved, trying to separate the players when Benn and Scheifele separate from the pack, with one referee holding the arm of the Jets’ assistant captain to keep him at bay.
That is when Benn saw his moment to strike, throwing a right haymaker with his glove on to the face of Scheifele, drawing the ire of the Winnipeg crowd.
The playoff game between the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars featured a line brawl
Dallas captain Jamie Benn sucker-punched Mark Scheifele and was fined $5k by the NHL
Scheifele was irate at the punch and tries to break away from an official before he was subdued. After the shocking punch, cooler heads prevailed.
Benn was fined $5,000 by the NHL for the punch, the maximum allowed by the league for on-ice actions. He will not be suspended from the incident.
The Stars are still one victory away from the Western Conference Finals, with Saturday’s Game 6 taking place on home ice in Texas.
The stakes of playoff games are huge, with tempers usually boiling over on ice during this time of year.
The winner of the Stars-Jets series will face the Edmonton Oilers in the next round, with a pair of Winnipeg wins securing a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup Final.
