Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn gets stitches after hitting face on ice, likely out for next games

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn got stitches in his nose and isn’t expected to be with the team for its next couple of games after hitting his face on the ice in the last game.

Coach Glen Gulutzan said Benn was still being evaluated Monday, a day after he fell following contact with a Montreal player early in the third period of the Stars’ 4-3 overtime loss. Benn was bleeding while being helped off the ice and to the locker room, and he didn’t return to the game.

The Stars, who have a five-game losing streak, play their next six on the road.

Gulutzan said he didn’t expect Benn for the first part of that trip, at Carolina on Tuesday and the following night at Washington. But Gulutzan said the captain could join them for the West Coast portion of the stretch, which starts Saturday at San Jose.

Benn is one of only four NHL veteran players who don’t wear visors. They are grandfathered in from an NHL rule that went into place before the 2013-14 season requiring the facial protection.

The 36-year-old Benn, in his 17th NHL season and all with the Stars, has seven goals and seven assists in 23 games this season. He missed the first 19 games while recovering from a punctured lung he sustained in preseason.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl