With the team on his back, Jamie Benn is producing in the biggest moments

DALLAS -- Jamie Benn's challenge in the playoff bubble last year was to unite his team in a strange biosphere and act as a swizzle stick of sorts.
The captain not only embraced the hardship of quarantine, he made it fun and brought together a band of thieves who stole three playoff series and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

That's what makes this current Benn trickery all the more impressive. As much as the 31-year-old forward is repeating some of the lessons he learned in Edmonton, he's also taking his game to a whole 'nother level. As the Stars are facing the fight of their lives just to get into the playoffs, Benn is carrying the team on his back.
He had three assists and the game-winning goal Monday in a 4-3 overtime victory against Carolina. It was his second consecutive overtime winner and it ties him with Mike Modano for the most in franchise history. It also keeps the Stars rolling at 8-1-2 in their past 11 games and allows them to keep pace with red-hot Nashville, which beat Florida Monday and remains two points ahead in the race for the final playoff spot in the Central Division.

It was simply a "neat" moment for a team that hasn't had enough of them this season.
"I think he loves these situations where he can put the team on his back and say 'Let's go,' and he's been doing that for a long time this season," head coach Rick Bowness said. "It's great to see. He's giving us great leadership on the bench, in the room, and it's nice to see him get rewarded."
To go through the Benn points on Monday is to unpeel the layers his game has gone through in the month of April. Benn drew a penalty less than a minute into the game and then fed a puck off the end boards to rookie Jason Robertson crashing the net on the ensuing power play. Robertson's shot was stopped, but Joe Pavelski cleaned up the rebound and Dallas had a 1-0 lead against a Carolina team that leads the Central Division.

Benn later made a nice battle out of the corner and along the boards before sliding a pass to Esa Lindell at the point on the next goal. Lindell's shot was deflected in by Jason Dickinson, and the Stars had a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Carolina came back with a hard push and tied the game at 2-2. But 36 seconds after the tying goal, Benn made a tremendous pass to Denis Gurianov for a sizzling one-timer that gave Dallas the lead back in the second period. Benn stole the puck in the neutral zone, turned and created a great scoring chance for Gurianov, who has seen a rebirth in his game while playing on a line with Benn.

"I think his game has gotten better and better as the season went on," Pavelski said of Benn. "He's been good, he's been really good. He's taken control of the line, he's been skating, making a lot of good plays."
Benn has driven Gurianov to regain his confidence, has helped take some pressure off the Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski line and has sparked Dickinson. By moving to center, Benn has helped the Stars become a better possession team and a team that's harder to play against.
"That's the best I've seen him skate in the three years I've been here," Bowness said. "He's really enjoying that center ice. The biggest thing is his skating and his compete level. He's just not going to be denied."

Benn showed that in overtime.
Carolina tied it up again in the third on a deflected shot, and the Stars headed to overtime, where Dallas was 2-6 on the season. Robertson deserves a great deal of credit for the game-winner, as he slogged through a tough defensive shift, created a turnover in the defensive zone, and then skated up ice to find an open Benn.
Benn then made a slick play to finish off the goal. He now has six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 14 games in April. He is plus-10 in that span and the Stars are 9-3-2.

"He battled really hard and made a great defensive play," Benn said in admiration of Robertson's assist. "Most of the time you're going to get a good offensive chance if you make a good play on defense. He made a great defensive play and made a great pass and was fortunate enough to go in the net."
That's a message the captain is sending from the coaching staff that is being heard loud and clear from the younger players.
Benn is now at 0.70 points per game. That's up from 0.57 last season, up from 0.68 the year before that. It's the highest average since he tallied 79 points in 82 games (0.96 points per game) in 2017-18. He's right at the clip, in fact, that he tallied in the playoffs last season.
Of course, during that run, he had Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov and Corey Perry to help him out. He had a different task, and he met those challenges beautifully. This year? Well, let's just say he's doing it differently, and he's enjoying it just as much.
"We're in a battle as a group here," Benn said. "We're playing good hockey and we just wanted to continue that tonight."
Last year, the Stars found a way to get huge wins against Calgary and Colorado and Vegas in the post-season. Last year, they found a way to rise above adversity and push ahead to create some great memories. This year, they're trying to do the same thing. Carolina clinched a playoff berth on Monday. Florida and Tampa Bay aren't far behind.
That leaves the Stars and Nashville to fight for the last post-season invite. One team will make it, one team won't. The team that misses will be heartbroken. The Stars don't want to be that team.
Nashville won Monday and sits at 27-21-2 for 56 points. The Stars are now 21-15-12 for 54 points. Technically, Dallas is ahead on points percentage because it has played two fewer games. Technically, Nashville is ahead when it comes to tiebreakers if the two teams do end up with the same amount of standing points.
It's a great race during the stretch run, and every game right now is meaningful. That's part of the fun…especially if you have a guy who can lead you through this swamp with confidence and grit.
"Everyone loves that guy," said rookie goalie Jake Oettinger of Benn. "He's the best captain I've ever played for and he's a guy that you want out there when the game's on the line. He wants to win more than anyone, and he wants to lead this team into the playoffs."
No matterhow he has to do it.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.