DALLAS -- Dallas Stars left winger and captain Jamie Benn scored a hat trick and goalie Jhonas Enroth stopped 24 of 25 shots as the Stars sent the Nashville Predators to a sixth straight defeat, 4-1 at American Airlines Center on Saturday night.

Benn, who finished with 87 points, wins the Art Ross Trophy, given to the NHL's points leader, by one point over New York Islanders center John Tavares, who finished with 86.

Two of Benn's goals came in the first period while the third came when he scored into the empty net with 2:05 remaining. Benn then assisted on a goal by center Cody Eakin with nine seconds remaining to secure the Art Ross, the first such winner in Stars history.

Eakin had a goal and an assist for Dallas (41-31-10), which finished the season on a four-game winning streak.

Nashville (47-25-10), which lost its sixth straight game, got its lone goal from rookie center Filip Forsberg in the first period. The Predators finished second in the Central Division and return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Nashville will face Chicago in the first round of the playoffs.

On Saturday, Benn scored his 33rd goal of the season 7:35 into the game, beating Predators backup goalie Carter Hutton with a snap from the left circle. Eakin set Benn up with a backhanded pass and Benn finished from the left circle, his flick sailing in over the glove of Hutton.

Nashville tied it at 11:33 of the first period when Forsberg scored his 26th goal of the season, on a deflection. Forsberg was in front of the Dallas net when he redirected a shot by Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis from the slot.

The Stars regained the lead exactly two minutes later when Benn scored his second goal of the game four seconds into a power play. Benn won a faceoff in the left circle with Predators center Paul Gaustad, getting the puck to rookie defenseman John Klingberg.

Benn then got his stick on Klingberg's shot from the left point, beating Hutton top shelf to his short side for his 34th goal of the season.

Dallas was on the power play after Nashville left winger Viktor Stalberg was called for tripping at 13:29 of the first period.

Benn completed the hat trick with 2:05 remaining, scoring into the empty net nearly two minutes after Hutton had headed to the bench.

Eakin then punctuated the scoring with his 19th goal of the season at 19:51 of the third period, knocking a pass from defenseman Trevor Daley through Hutton's five-hole.

Hutton stopped 21 of 24 shots for Nashville.

NOTES: The Predators scratched C Mike Fisher (lower body), D Cody Franson (upper body), D Roman Josi (lower body), LW Eric Nystrom (lower body) and D Shea Weber (lower body). Josi missed his first game of the season. ... The Stars scratched D Alex Goligoski (undisclosed) and C Tyler Seguin. Seguin was scratched because he was late to practice on Friday. Goligoski was missing his first game of the season. ... Predators backup G Carter Hutton made only his 18th start of the season and first since March 29 against Calgary. ... Stars backup G Jhonas Enroth started his fourth consecutive game. ... The Predators have four players who have not missed a game this season: C Filip Forsberg, D Seth Jones, C Mike Ribeiro and C Craig Smith. ... The Stars have two players who have played every game: LW Jamie Benn and C Jason Spezza, who did not miss a game this season.