For Puck's Sake.

A By-The-Numbers Look Back At The Dallas Stars' 2014-2015 Season.

Though the Dallas Stars' playoff hopes had long been dashed, the team's final game against the Nashville Predators this Saturday was filled with plenty of excitement nonetheless: Forward Jamie Benn scored a hat trick in the game, including a late-period goal and assist that helped him lock down his first-ever Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer.

His 87 total points this season was an improvement over his previous-best 79 from last season.

It's pretty remarkable that, in spite of this, the Stars still missed the playoffs. How often does the team with the league's leading scorer miss the playoffs? How about when the team also boasts the seventh-highest leading scorer in the league — Tyler Seguin, who notched 77 points of his own, and could've potentially contended for the Art Ross Trophy himself had he not missed 11 games this season.

So what exactly happened here? The obvious culprit is the defense. As impressive as the offense was — the team's goal totals for the '14-'15 campaign were just a few shy of the league's best — its defense was just as abysmal. What's more, goalie Kari Lehtonen had one of the worst goals-against totals of any starting goalie in the league this season.

But all is not lost. There's plenty to be excited about headed into next season, to be sure. For one thing, Benn and Seguin are just 25 and 23, respectively — and they're just two of the team's bright, super young star players. With even a slight improvement to the other side of the puck and, perhaps, a key defenseman pickup this offseason, and the team could very well contend for a Stanley Cup next year.

So before we close the books on this season for good, let's a look a by-the-numbers look at the good, the bad and the reasons why we're still super excited about this non-playoff club's potential.

1: Where Benn finished on NHL points list this season.

4: Points scored by Benn in final game of the season to clinch the scoring title.

7: Where Seguin finished on NHL points list this season.

8.5: Seconds left on the clock when Benn assisted on a Cody Ealkin goal to clinch the scoring title.

13: Points scored by Benn in the final five games of the season.

17. Home wins for the Stars this season, the fourth-worst total in the NHL.

23: Seguin's age to start next season.

24. Road wins for the Stars this season, tied for the third-highest total in the league.

26: Benn's age to start next season.

35: Goals scored by Benn this season.

41: Goalie Kari Lehtonen's .903 save percentage was 41st best in the league this season.

52: Assists by Benn this season.

53: Goals scored by Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin this season, the league's best. His 81 total points was good enough for fourth best.

72: Number of goals scored by Benn and Seguin, representing 28 percent of team's total offense.

77: Points scored by Sequin this season in just 71 games — 11 fewer games than Benn.

86: Point scored by New York Islanders forward John Tavares, who scored two goals of his own in final game of season.

87: Total number of points scored by Benn this season.

92: Standings points earned by the Dallas Stars this season, seven behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final playoff spot.

181: Number of goals given up by Lehtonen this season, the second-worst figure in the league.

253: Benn's shots on goal this season, 17th best in the league.

257: Goals scored by the Dallas Stars this season, second-best in the league.

257: Goals scored by Dallas Stars opponents this season, tied with Toronto for fourth-worst in the league.

280: Sequin's shots on goal this season, fifth best in the league.