The Dallas Stars have undergone quite the transformation at forward since Jim Nill took over as general manager following the 2012-13 season.
In two offseasons, Nill has acquired two top-six centers Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza to lessen the scoring burden on captain and first-line left winger Jamie Benn. Nill also signed top-nine winger Ales Hemsky as a free agent last summer.
Benn and Seguin formed immediate chemistry as linemates last season and combined to tally 163 points (71 goals, 92 assists). That was the third-highest scoring mark among NHL linemates in 2013-14, behind Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz (172 points) and Anaheim’s Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry (169 points).
Seguin and Benn have played well this campaign, too. Seguin is tied for the league lead in goals scored with 28 and ranks second in scoring with 52 points. After a slow start, Benn has tallied 40 points in 45 games. Seguin and Benn also have proven to be an effective puck possession duo by helping Dallas control 53.76 percent of even-strength shot attempts.
Where do they rank among the other high-scoring duos across the NHL?
Here are eight of the highest-scoring duos in the league entering Tuesday night’s games (players must have played 75 percent of their shifts together to qualify as a “duo”).
| Duo | Team | ES Points | PP Points | Total PTS | TOI With |
| Giroux/Voracek | Philadelphia | 62 | 43 | 105 | 771:31:00 |
| Seguin/Benn | Dallas | 69 | 23 | 92 | 727:55:00 |
| Johnson/Kucherov | Tampa Bay | 70 | 19 | 89 | 519:21:00 |
| Tavares/Okposo | N.Y. Islanders | 54 | 35 | 89 | 791:56:00 |
| Ovechkin/Backstrom | Washington | 64 | 23 | 87 | 784:42:00 |
| Kessel/Van Riemsdyk | Toronto | 57 | 26 | 83 | 584:44:00 |
| Crosby/Hornqvist | Pittsburgh | 48 | 32 | 80 | 382:04:00 |
| Getzlaf/Perry | Anaheim | 61 | 17 | 78 | 490:11:00 |
The Boston Bruins are in Dallas for a Tuesday night game against the Stars, and all eyes will be on Seguin, who will face his former teammates for the third time since the B’s traded him in July 2013.
The Bruins have improved defensively over the last three weeks and now rank ninth in goals against per game. Boston’s penalty kill also has made positive strides and is 27-for-29 in eight January games. That said, the Stars rank third in goals scored per game, and shutting down the Seguin/Benn duo must happen for the B’s to secure two points.
Expect reigning Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron and linemates Daniel Paille and Reilly Smith to spend as many of their even-strength shifts as possible against the Seguin line. The Bergeron line regularly spends most of its shifts against the opposing team’s top forwards, but B’s head coach Claude Julien doesn’t have the last line change as the road team, so preventing Seguin and Benn from finding the back of the net must be a total team effort for Boston.
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Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
