Player Safety makes its call on Jamie Benn after controversial incident
Jamie Benn got the lightest possible discipline for cross-checking Ryan Hartman, and Minnesota Wild fans are not going to be quiet about it.
The Department of Player Safety announced the verdict tonight. The Dallas Stars captain has been fined $2,604.17, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement. No suspension. No game missed. Nothing more.
That is the league's full response to a captain who cross-checked an opponent in the arm and then again in the head during the same sequence in Game 5.
-
Two separate hacks. One of them at head level. A couple thousand dollars on the way out the door.
The 36-year-old plays on a $1 million ticket. The fine represents the league's way of saying "we noticed" without actually doing anything that affects the series. The optics are not great.
Hartman threw the original high hit on Benn. The 31-year-old Wild forward got an unsportsmanlike conduct call on the play. Then Benn responded with two cross-checks and the on-ice officials gave him a single 2-minute minor.
Now the league office has spoken too. Benn skates Game 6 in Minnesota on Thursday with no consequence beyond a minor accounting line on his next paycheck.
Why John Hynes has every reason to be furious
The Wild head coach watched his team lose Game 5 in Dallas after Matthew Boldy had an apparent goal wiped out by a goaltender interference challenge.
Now his top agitator gets cross-checked in the head and the league hands the Stars captain a fine that won't even register on the cap sheet.
Hartman entered Game 5 with 3 points in 4 playoff games.
The 31-year-old American is the matchup nightmare Dallas built its strategy around containing.
Hitting him in the head with a cross-check and getting fined less than $3,000 is exactly the kind of math an opponent runs.
Benn finished the regular season with 49 points in 81 games at age 36. The captain has gone pointless across the first 4 playoff games of this round with a -4 rating.
The frustration was visible. The discipline matched the moment.
Glen Gulutzan got his goalie interference challenge. Then he got his captain back without a suspension. The Dallas head coach is having a Wednesday morning Bill Guerin can only dream about.
Bill Guerin built the Wild around Kirill Kaprizov and Matthew Boldy and a deep middle six. Quinn Hughes, the former Canucks captain, anchors the back end.
The general manager handed John Hynes a roster that finished 49-25-8 with 106 points.
The series sits 2-2 going into Game 6 Thursday in Minnesota.
The Wild get last change in their own building with the captain of the opposition fully available after questionable behavior the league office acknowledged with a financial slap on the wrist.
Mikko Rantanen needs to stop being a -4 in this series. Jason Robertson is leading Dallas with 6 points.
The Stars don't need their captain to score. They needed him on the ice. The league just made sure he stays there.
The 2026 playoffs keep finding the line and stepping over it. Game 6 in Minnesota will be louder for every reason.
|
LIVE
APRIL 29, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dominic James | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Gage Goncalves | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Yanni Gourde | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noel Acciari | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Denver Barkey | - | - | - | |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | - | - | - | |
| Alex Bump | - | - | - | |
| Michael Carcone | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||
| 2025-2026 NHL STANDINGS | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Sabres | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 109 | |
| Lightning | 82 | 50 | 26 | 6 | 106 | |
| Canadiens | 82 | 48 | 24 | 10 | 106 | |
| Bruins | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 100 | |
| Senators | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 99 | |
| Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 92 | |
| Panthers | 82 | 40 | 38 | 4 | 84 | |
| Maple Leafs | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 78 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Hurricanes | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 113 | |
| Penguins | 82 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 98 | |
| Flyers | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 98 | |
| Capitals | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 95 | |
| Blue Jackets | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 92 | |
| Islanders | 82 | 43 | 34 | 5 | 91 | |
| Devils | 82 | 42 | 37 | 3 | 87 | |
| Rangers | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Avalanche | 82 | 55 | 16 | 11 | 121 | |
| Stars | 82 | 50 | 20 | 12 | 112 | |
| Wild | 82 | 46 | 24 | 12 | 104 | |
| Mammoth | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Blues | 82 | 37 | 33 | 12 | 86 | |
| Predators | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 86 | |
| Jets | 82 | 35 | 35 | 12 | 82 | |
| Blackhawks | 82 | 29 | 39 | 14 | 72 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Golden Knights | 82 | 39 | 26 | 17 | 95 | |
| Oilers | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 93 | |
| Ducks | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Kings | 82 | 35 | 27 | 20 | 90 | |
| Sharks | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 86 | |
| Kraken | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 79 | |
| Flames | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| Canucks | 82 | 25 | 49 | 8 | 58 | |
COMPLETE STANDINGS | ||||||