Benn Records 1,000th NHL Point

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Jamie Benn 1,000 Points: Only Modano Stands Ahead Of Him

The milestone arrived the way so many of Benn’s points have, in front of the net. With the game scoreless at 16:23 of the second period, Nils Lundkvist’s one-timer from the right point was tipped by Justin Hryckowian in the right face-off circle, and the puck trickled off the left post to Benn, who snapped it into an open net. The Stars bench emptied to celebrate with their captain. As the NHL.com game recap records, Benn is the 104th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points and the 12th active player there, and he became the 53rd player in league history to register all 1,000 with a single franchise. His career line now reads 418 goals and 582 assists in 1,271 games.

“It was nice for it to be a goal,” Benn said. “Nice to get it over with.” The only name above him in franchise history is the name that defines the franchise. As the Associated Press report carried by Sportsnet records, Benn is second only to Hall of Famer Mike Modano, who scored 1,359 points for a team that began as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967 and moved to Texas in 1993. “It means a lot, obviously, to be mentioned with him,” Benn said. “He’s a legend. Probably when you think of a Dallas Stars hockey player, you think of Mike Modano. He did a lot for this organization and the city of Dallas. Just cool to be a part of everything.”

Tyler Seguin, his teammate since 2013, marked the moment on the ice and then explained it. “I leaned into his ear and said, ‘It’s only 300 more,’ it’s only a few more years, stick around,” Seguin said, as the Stars’ own report on NHL.com recounts. “I’m just so happy seeing his accomplishments, whether it was the Art Ross earlier or 1,000 points now, or both of us becoming dads. He’s a guy you want to fight for.”

A Three-Game Chase, And A Date Shared With Brett Hull

The final point took its time. Benn scored his 999th point on November 7 in a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. His first chance to close it out came Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, and he thought he had it: a late David Perron power-play goal that would have given Benn the second assist was ruled a kick-in, the goal came off the board, and Dallas lost 8-3, as the Dallas Sports Journal reported the next morning. Saturday, the wait ended in the second period.

The date carried its own coincidence. As The Hockey News laid out before the game, Brett Hull recorded his 1,000th career point on November 14, 1998, in a Stars sweater, in a three-point performance. Twenty-eight years later to the day, Benn reached the same number in the same colours, at home. The NHL.com recap adds one more line to the record: Benn is only the second fifth-round draft pick ever to reach 1,000 points, following Alexander Mogilny, who finished with 1,032.

Oettinger Slams The Door On A Character Win

Benn’s goal stood as the game’s only scoring until the final minute, because Jake Oettinger turned the night into a statement of his own. Two nights after being pulled in the 8-3 loss to Winnipeg, Oettinger made 22 saves for his league-leading fourth shutout of the season and the 20th of his career. “I felt great. The guys played great in front of me,” Oettinger said. “Everyone in front of me just did their job. It was impressive how well we defended after last game.” Of Benn, he was just as direct in the Stars’ report: “He’s been the heart and soul of the team ever since I’ve been here and long before I’ve been here. He’s everything you want in a captain and leader.”

Wyatt Johnston closed the scoring on a power play at 19:18 of the third period, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Mikko Rantanen at the back door, with Roope Hintz drawing the second assist. Dallas finished 1-for-5 on the power play and killed all five Buffalo chances, extending its shutout streak against the Sabres to 153:51 dating back to April 15. Alex Lyon made 28 saves for Buffalo (8-8-4), which is winless in four (0-3-1). Dallas (11-6-2) has won two of its past three. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan summed up his captain’s night: “To see how he’s matured as he’s grown up, he’s 1,000 percent a team player. He’s what every coach would want as their captain. The guys know it, and I know it. So to stand there and see him get his 1,000th point, it’s pretty special.”

A Fifth-Round Pick Who Became The Franchise

The arc is the story underneath the number. Dallas took Benn, a Victoria, British Columbia native, in the fifth round of the 2007 NHL Draft, 129th overall, out of his hometown Victoria Grizzlies, as his NHL.com player page records. He has worn the captain’s C since the start of the 2013-14 season, the longest tenure of any captain in Stars history. His peak was as high as anyone’s in the league: Benn won the 2014-15 Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s scoring leader with 87 points (35 goals, 52 assists), beating John Tavares by a single point on the final day to give Dallas its only league scoring title, then scored a career-high 41 goals the following season.

The one prize missing is the one Benn talks about. The closest he has come is the 2020 Stanley Cup Final in the Edmonton bubble, where Dallas lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. At 37, he is playing on a one-year contract worth $850,000, his second straight one-year deal at a reduced salary after $1 million in 2025-26, a structure built to give the club cap room around him. Saturday’s goal was his fourth of the season, and there is no time to savour it: the Florida Panthers visit American Airlines Center on Sunday night to close the back-to-back.

For the record books, the night is settled. A fifth-round pick from Victoria scored his 1,000th point for the only team he has ever played for, on a loose puck in front of the net, in the second period, with his whole bench pouring onto the ice around him. Only Mike Modano has ever scored more for this franchise, and nobody has worn its C longer.