Jamie Benn's dangerous, uncalled playoff antics continue. The NHL faces pressure to address a pattern of reckless plays impacting star players.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Dallas Stars captain, Jamie Benn, struck again in Game 3.
In Game 2, he slew-footed Matt Boldy, which went uncalled by the officials.
In Game 1, he took runs at Quinn Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov on multiple occasions, and in Game 3, with the Wild already without Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin, Benn injured Boldy.
And you guessed it. It went uncalled.
Wild head coach John Hynes called Gord Dwyer and Pierre Lambert over after the play and was clearly unhappy.
Boldy, before going down the tunnel, showed the officials a video of the cross-check he received from Benn and had some choice words for them.
After getting hit, Boldy was face down on the ice for a bit. He got up and fell over again. Boldy got help to the bench and did not return for the rest of the period.
This isn't the first time Benn has gone after Boldy, that went uncalled.
In Game 2, as mentioned above, Benn slewfooted Boldy in the neutral zone for no reason.
Boldy didn't have the puck. It was nowhere near him. Yet, Benn thought it would be a good idea to come from behind, sweep his feet, and ram his face down.
Benn, 36, has one goal in his last 21 playoff games. It is clear the type of role he is set out to play in the playoffs. Get under the other team's star players skin and cause havoc.
I get that. But he has crossed the line in this series. A slewfoot is one of the most dangerous plays in the game. Luckily, Boldy wasn't injured on it. A cross-check to the back of the head is also extremely dangerous play.
What do these two plays have in common? None were called for a penalty. And nothing from the Department of Player Safety so far.
Boldy returned for the second and third period of Game 3 and said he’s fine, which is the best-case outcome for Minnesota. But that doesn’t change the pattern that’s developed through three games.
For comparison, Marcus Foligno was assessed a four-minute penalty in Game 2 for an incident involving Thomas Harley. Through three games, Jamie Benn has yet to be penalized for similar situations.
When the same player is involved in multiple dangerous, uncalled plays, it stops being a coincidence and starts becoming a league issue.
It isn’t just Benn. Wyatt Johnston, who scored the overtime winner in double overtime, speared Kaprizov in a spot you don't want to be speared in.
The call?
None.
Whether it’s the officials in real time or the Department of Player Safety after the fact, the NHL has to step in — because if it doesn’t, it’s setting a standard that this type of play is acceptable in the playoffs. Which will lead to actual injuries on both sides.
And whatever side you are on, we can all agree we don’t want that to take away from what could be the best series in the NHL.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
