DENVER (AP) — Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin shared a brief, light-hearted moment in the locker room after Game 3. Just a pair of 30-somethings for the Dallas Stars chuckling over the fact that both scored in a 2-1 overtime win.
“Jamie said, ‘The old guys are still getting it done,’” Seguin recalled Friday after practice. “I said, ‘I’m not that old.’”
For these longtime stalwarts, age remains just a number — Benn, the captain, is 35 and Seguin 33. They’ve been the backbone of the Stars for a long, long time and have helped Dallas take a 2-1 playoff series lead over Colorado heading into Game 4 on Saturday night.
“We’re obviously the ‘old-er’ guys in here — a lot of pride, been here for so long together,” Seguin said. “Just want to continue doing what we can to keep advancing.”
It’s not all that often Benn and Seguin score in the same playoff game. In fact, Game 3 on Wednesday, when Benn scored the equalizer and Seguin won it in overtime, marked only the fourth time it’s occurred. The first time was April 16, 2014, which happened to be Benn’s inaugural playoff contest. It also took place on August 26, 2020, in the bubble versus Colorado and April 19, 2023, against Minnesota.
These days, when they score, it’s a good-humored trip down memory lane.
“When him or I are scoring a goal, you continue to read flashbacks or ‘back to the old days,’” Seguin cracked. “We’re still living in the now, him and I.”
Good thing for Dallas that Seguin proved to be a fast healer. He underwent left hip surgery on Dec. 1 and wasn’t really expected to return until possibly this week. But he was back for the regular-season finale and really back for the postseason.
“He worked his (rear) off to get back as early as he did,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “I think it’s the earliest the surgeon who did this surgery has ever had a guy come back from this. That was him, just working to give himself a chance to play.”
Seguin doesn’t view himself as some sort of medical marvel. He simply realized the work he had in front of him after having a similar procedure on his right hip that kept him out of all but three games of the 2020-21 season after playing through pain in the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals.
“I knew what buttons to push, what training regimen to do and how to recover,” Seguin said. “Just happy to be part of the journey now.”
Before Game 3, Benn hadn’t scored since March 8, when he recorded his 399th career regular-season goal. He’s always been a threat against the Avalanche come postseason time, with 16 points (six goals and 10 assists) over 17 career games. The only active player with more points against Colorado in the postseason is Miro Heiskanen (17 points), the defenseman who’s sidelined by a lower-body injury but is working his way back.
This is the 16th NHL season for Benn, tying him for the second-most in Stars history (with Neal Broten). The only Stars player with a longer tenure is Hall of Famer Mike Modano at 20 seasons. Benn’s trying to join the company of Modano, who helped the Stars to their only Stanley Cup title in 1999.
“When you get around (Benn), the big thing I realize is just how beloved he is by his teammates,” DeBoer said. “You don’t get that by accident. You don’t get that by buying team dinners. You get that by how you treat people on a daily basis. That’s probably his best part. When he gets off the ice, he’s a really unselfish, good guy, that is a friend to everybody, that’s always taken care of everybody. His team loves him.”
Benn is in the final year of an eight-year, $76 million contract. Seguin has two more years left on a $78.8 million, eight-year contract.
They have a strong supporting cast, too, including youngsters (Wyatt Johnston), savvy veterans (Matt Duchene, Roope Hintz) and big trade deadline additions (former Avalanche standout Mikko Rantanen). They also have a dependable goaltender in Jake Oettinger, who certainly appreciates the leadership of Benn and Seguin.
“Even though they’ve been around for a while, they’ve still got a ton of great hockey left in them,” Oettinger said. “If we can get everyone going at the same time, we’re a pretty scary team.”
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AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Dallas contributed to this report.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl