New NHL All-Star format a good fit for Dallas reps Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin

When the NHL made the move to a 3-on-3 overtime this season, the goal was to produce more organic offense to decide games before the shootout period.

So far, the experiment has worked. Only 26 percent of overtime games (through Jan. 19) reached a shootout. That’s down from more than 40 percent last season, when overtime was played with four skaters and a goalie on the ice for each team.

To flaunt this success, the NHL Players Association announced in November that the All-Star Game, known for its outrageous offensive output, would be played with 3-on-3 skaters in a tournament-style format.

The Dallas Stars, the NHL’s top offensive club with a league-leading 160 goals, will send forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, as well as coach Lindy Ruff, to the All-Star Game on Sunday (4 p.m., NBCSN) in Nashville.

Benn, the defending Art Ross Trophy winner (for leading scorer), and Seguin are second and third in NHL points, with 58 and 53, respectively.

Dallas is the only team to have two players in the top five in points.

Benn is making his second All-Star appearance. His first was in 2012 in Ottawa when he won the accuracy shooting contest during the All-Star Skills Competition.

“It’s an honor,” Benn said. “Any chance you can get to represent your team in an All-Star game is pretty special and I’m excited to be alongside Seguin.”

Seguin played in the 2012 All-Star Game as a rookie, recording an assist, and in the 2015 game in Columbus, scoring two goals and notching two assists.

“It’s always quite the honor,” Seguin said. “It’s always a special event and something you watch as a kid, so anytime you get the opportunity you have to embrace it and take it all in. I’ve had fun in the past and I’m looking forward to this year as well.”

Ruff will coach the Central Division team in a tournament that pairs the Central against the Pacific Division and the Metropolitan against the Atlantic in two, 20-minute semifinals. The winners will play in a championship game that follows.

Ruff earned the All-Star nod because the Stars had the Central’s best points percentage at the Jan. 9 deadline.

Dallas has fallen to second in the Central, three points behind the NHL’s hottest team, Chicago.

At the point of his selection, Ruff had led Dallas to a 28-10-4 record, second best through 42 games in franchise history. The Stanley Cup-winning 1998-99 squad posted a 27-8-7 record with 61 points through 42 games. That team went on to beat Ruff’s Buffalo Sabres in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Sunday will be Ruff’s third All-Star appearance as a head coach, following 1999 and 2007.

“It should be fun,” Ruff said. “I’m the benefactor of a team that’s played real well and a coaching staff that’s done a heck of a job. I’ll go there and enjoy the event.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 3:58 PM with the headline "New NHL All-Star format a good fit for Dallas reps Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin."