Benn of Stars ejected from Game 3 of Western Final

DALLAS -- Jamie Benn was assessed a five-minute major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct at 1:53 of the first period for the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final, a 4-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

The Stars forward cross-checked Golden Knights forward Mark Stone in the neck area after he took him down in front of the penalty box. Alex Pietrangelo already had possession of the puck in Vegas' zone when Benn cross-checked Stone as he was laying on the ice.

The penalties were upheld upon an official's video review.

Dallas trails 3-0 in the best-of-7 series. Benn, who is Stars captain, has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"Let's put it this way: [He] made a mistake, he feels really badly about it," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "I don't think anyone in the building feels worse than he does about it. I'm not going to pile on him. He's been a leader here through his entire career and leads by example every day on and off the ice. [He] made a mistake.

"Fortunately, Mark Stone is OK, and we've got to live with the consequences, and the consequences was a big hole. But I'm not going to stand here and pile on tonight. I don't think it does anybody any good."

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Stars series coverage]

Ivan Barbashev scored on the power play at 5:57 to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.

Vegas took a 1-0 lead on Jonathan Marchessault's goal at 1:11 before Benn was assessed the penalty 42 seconds later.

Evgenii Dadonov sustained a lower-body injury midway through the first, which left Dallas with 10 forwards.

"Jamie's one of the, if not the best captain in this league, top leader," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. "Collectively, we lost as a group tonight."

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report