Benn on Game 4 incidents: 'A bunch of grown men being donkeys'
Jamie Benn had a simple explanation for the extracurricular activities between his Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 on Wednesday night.
"Just a bunch of grown men being donkeys out there," the Stars captain told reporters postgame, according to NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger.
Late in the second period of Dallas' 4-2 victory, St. Louis forward David Perron slashed Stars goaltender Ben Bishop in the back.
David Perron 🏒 ▶️▶️▶️ Ben Bishop#HfHits pic.twitter.com/hpVzPPLMmQ
— hockeyfights (@hockeyfights) May 2, 2019
"I was just reaching to prevent him from playing, and he’s a big guy, he’s 6-6," Perron said postgame, according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.
Before the teams skated off for the second intermission, Benn exchanged words with Blues netminder Jordan Binnington, who took a swing at him and then hacked Bishop on his way off.
Overhead (and only) angle shown by NBCSN of the Binnington chop on Bishop: pic.twitter.com/yr7pQyUuzS
— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) May 2, 2019
Bishop didn't have much to say about it afterward.
Ben Bishop seemed to downplay Jordan Binnington's slash.
— Matthew DeFranks (@MDeFranks) May 2, 2019
Did he say anything to you?
“No.”
Just gave you a whack?
“Yeah, I wasn’t looking. I didn’t know he was there.”
Did you feel it in the moment?
“He just hit my stick.”
Blues head coach Craig Berube wasn't pleased with Benn going after Binnington.
"Heck, I don’t know what Jamie Benn's doing skating down there and he's getting in Binner's face," Berube said, according to the Dallas Morning News' Matthew DeFranks. "He's just reacting a little bit to it. He’s a competitor.”
Binnington was assessed roughing and slashing minors as a result, and Benn was handed an unsportsmanlike conduct minor.