Stars' Jamie Benn ready to return

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FRISCO, Texas -- Stars center Jamie Benn, who has missed the past six games with a leg injury, will return to the lineup Wednesday in Dallas' home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Benn went through a full practice Tuesday and said he was ready to go.

"It went well. I felt good out there. It was good to get back out there with the guys, skate around, have some fun and do some high-paced drills," Benn said. "I feel ready to go."

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Benn was cut on the left thigh in a game Feb. 16 by the skate of Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano.

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan doesn't expect Benn to play 20 minutes in his first game back, but said his return will be a huge boost for the Stars as they battle to make the playoffs.

"You need your guys back," Gulutzan said. "Benny has been a huge player for us all season and we've managed without him and now he has to come back in and it's going to give us a big boost for sure. Whenever you get a chance to get arguably your best player back, you welcome it with open arms."

Kari Lehtonen will start in goal Wednesday.

Mark Stepneski covers the Dallas Stars for ESPNDallas.com.

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Mark Stepneski

ESPNDallas.com

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Mark Stepneski joined ESPNDallas.com in July 2010. A former news/special projects producer for KXAS-TV, he has run the Andrew's Dallas Stars Page website since 1997.