NEW YORK — Dallas Stars left-wing Jamie Benn, Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo and Philadelphia Flyers centre Claude Giroux have been named the NHL’s three stars for the final week of the regular season.
Benn led the NHL with seven goals, including a pair of hat tricks, and added an assist over three games to power the Stars to a 2-1-0 week. He registered his third career hat trick, including the winning goal, in a 4-2 victory over San Jose and closed the season with another hat trick and game winner in a 4-2 triumph over Los Angeles.
It wasn’t enough to get Dallas into the post season, as the Stars finished three points back of Colorado for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Luongo went 3-0-0 with a 1.59 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in four appearances to help the Panthers become the 13th team in NHL history to earn five wins in seven days. The Panthers, who pushed hard in the second half of the season for a playoff spot, finished a point behind New Jersey for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card berth.
Giroux had five goals and two assists in three games to propel the Flyers to their eighth playoff berth in the past 11 seasons. He helped Philadelphia clinch its playoff berth with his first career regular-season hat trick in a 5-0 triumph against the New York Rangers.
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