LAS VEGAS

Just a slapshot away from the swank MGM Grand Casino a sudden blast of southerly wind on a sweltering Nevada Monday afternoon suddenly results in a huge cloud of rust-coloured dust consuming a sandy vacant lot just off the famed Las Vegas strip.

It serves as a reminder that, yes, for all it’s glitz and glamour, Sin City is built in the middle of an arid desert.

How fitting, then, that the NHL would choose this place to hand out among its cache of shiny hardware the Art Ross Trophy, given the way scoring in the league has dried up like much of the sun-baked land surrounding Vegas.

When Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn walks onto the MGM stage to accept the award as the NHL scoring champion on Wednesday night, his point total of 87 will be the lowest accrued by an Art Ross winner since Blackhawks great Stan Mikita also registered the same amount back in 1967-68, some 47 years earlier.

Why did scoring evaporate to such an extent that the Art Ross recipient had the worst scoring stats in almost half a century? And, perhaps more importantly, what can be done to improve those seemingly alarming numbers?

In order to clarify this alarming issue — if that’s possible — we went to the experts, gathering the opinions of a panel of five of the top offensive players in the game.

Sidney Crosby (Penguins): 857 points in 621 career NHL games, one Stanley Cup, two Art Ross Trophies (scoring champion), two Hart Trophies (league MVP), one Maurice Richard Trophy (most goals)

(Penguins): 857 points in 621 career NHL games, one Stanley Cup, two Art Ross Trophies (scoring champion), two Hart Trophies (league MVP), one Maurice Richard Trophy (most goals) Steven Stamkos (Lightning): 276 goals and 498 points in 492 regular season games, one 53-goal season, one 60-goal season, two Rocket Richard Trophies (most goals)

John Tavares (Islanders): 401 points in 432 regular season NHL games, finished second to Stars’ Jamie Benn in 2014-15 Art Ross race for scoring champion with 86 points

(Islanders): 401 points in 432 regular season NHL games, finished second to Stars’ Jamie Benn in 2014-15 Art Ross race for scoring champion with 86 points Jonathan Toews (Blackhawks): Three-time Stanley Cup champion, four-time NHL all-star, one Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), two Olympic gold medals, 506 points in 565 career regular season games

(Blackhawks): Three-time Stanley Cup champion, four-time NHL all-star, one Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), two Olympic gold medals, 506 points in 565 career regular season games Alex Ovechkin (Capitals): 475 goals in 760 career regular season games, six 50-plus goal seasons, one Art Ross Trophy (scoring champion), three Hart Trophies (MVP), five Rocket Richard Trophies (most goals)

An all-star group to address this dilemma if ever there was one.

And the mandate here is a simple one: Why is scoring down and what can be done to bring it back up?

We’ll let the stars take it from here.

SIDNEY CROSBY :Let Some Air Out Of The Ballooning Goalie Gear

Look, Sid The Kid isn’t out to target goalies — other than with his shots, that is. In fact, he acknowledges the fact that the men between the pipes are as good as they’ve ever been right now.

“When you look at goalies, the numbers for goalies are through the roof this year,” Crosby said. “They’re bigger, they’re athletic. That’s tough.”

So is the fact that the officials seemed to be tooting their whistles less and less as the season grinded on, especially when it came to calling power plays.

“There were probably less power plays,” he said. “That’s a time when you are usually able to rack up a lot of points — at power play time. When the other team is a man down, you get more time and space. I think with less power plays that’s probably the case too.

“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. You have to fight for time and space out there to make plays.”

Asked what might be done to boost offence in the game, Crosby certainly doesn’t view bigger nets as a solution, an opinion that pretty much was shared by all the panelists.

“I don’t want to see the nets change,” he said. “That’s pretty drastic.

“When you think about it, I think the only thing is maybe goalie gear. I mean, that’s the only thing. As far as the players and the style and the way teams play systems now, you can’t really change all that. I think that the only thing you can really change is the goalie equipment. I’m sure many of those guys wouldn’t be a fan of that. And for good reason. But that’s really the only thing you can do to alter things and make a difference I think.”

Sid isn’t going to make many friends in the goalie fraternity with that stance.

Then again, given how he’s lit them up over the years, he probably didn’t have many anyway.

STEVEN STAMKOS:Let’s Stay With The Status Quo

If anyone could have used expanded nets in the Stanley Cup final, it was the Tampa Bay Lightning captain, who ripped one off the iron in the first period of Game 6.

With the score knotted at 0-0 at the time, maybe it would have been a different story for Tampa had it gone in. But it didn’t. And, in the end, it led to Chicago’s 2-0 Cup-clinching win over the Lightning.

But he doesn’t want to see the configurations of the cages changed. Not at all.

“I mean, if they were altered, as an offensive player it would be good for me,” he laughed.

As big as soccer nets?

“No, not that big.”

Joking aside, Stamkos said players will “figure it out.”

“For me, the nets have been that way forever,” he said. “I’m a fan of the game. The game’s the game, so just leave it the way it is.”

For Stamkos, the glut of scoring can be attributed to two prominent factors:

A) Teams now have more talented third and fourth lines, making it more difficult to exploit matchups

B) There are fewer weak squads in the league to take advantage of.

“Absolutely it’s more difficult to score,” he said. “Not only are the goalies better but teams are playing better defence. Guys are blocking shots, teams collapse in front of their own nets, And there is a lot of depth. When you go through the lines one through four, it’s pretty solid nowadays. Teams pay a lot of attention to playing well defensively.

“It’s tough. The parity in the league is there. There are no easy nights. I’d say five, six, seven years ago, you’d play a couple of teams where guys would know you’d get a couple of points that night. It’s definitely not like that now.”

JOHN TAVARES:Wider Rinks, Trimmer Goalies, 3-on-3 OT The Way To Be

Let’s get one thing straight: Tavares thinks the pace during games “is as good as it’s ever been.” As a result, why not give the league’s talent stars more room to maneuver?

“I think that the way the game is going, maybe make the rink a little bit bigger,” Tavares said. “I’m not saying it needs to become Olympic-sized or even intermediate-sized. Somewhere in-between. Add one or two feet of ice on each wall. That little extra time and space will help players make plays.

“I’m a big believer that that’s something that should be looked at and be tested and see what kind of results we could get.”

Tavares agrees with Crosby on goalie equipment.

“Look, I’m a traditional guy,” he said. “The goalie equipment right now, it’s a pretty big size, I don’t think we need to see it get any much bigger. Every few years, whether it’s the rules or the equipment, everything needs pretty much gets looked at where, every now and then, it gets to a point where some things tend to slip.”

The Islanders captain would love to see the 3-on-3 overtime implemented.

“You get a lineup of, say, Crosby, Malkin, Letang going up against Toews, Kane, Duncan Keith, what’s not to like?” he said. “I think people might think it’s kind of gimmicky, but I think people will see the best players in the world with open ice make plays, I think it will be fun to play in and special to watch.”

As for regulation time, Tavares said more coaches continue to adopt defence-first systems.

“I think teams are deeper now and there are more players assigned to keep opponents at bay. They’re playing specific roles throughout the team.

“Also, I’m not trying to put the blame on the officials or on how the game is being played, I think they do a tremendous job and I think the game is as exciting as ever. But I think you saw how tight games were the last 20 or 30 games and there wasn’t much called.

“Not that that’s a bad thing.”

It was if you liked power plays.

JONATHAN TOEWS:Tight Spaces, Clogged Places ... But Same Ice

After Toews and teammate Patrick Kane combined for just two goals in the final versus Tampa and STILL won the Cup, he values the way that strong supporting cast members like Antoine Vermette and Kris Verteeg can pick up the slack.

“In my opinion, I would agree that the skill level has improved,” Toews said. “The scoring is maybe more spread out throughout the team.

“And it’s just such a fast game, there’s not a lot of space, there’s not a lot of odd-man rushes in the game anymore. It just seems that wherever you look, guys seem to be on you. I mean, everyone can skate so there’s no real talent-limited guys out there. It’s been pretty tight out there.

“I honestly believe it’s a sliding scale. Sometimes officiating might change throughout a year. Like you said, there might be more power plays one year than the next. Who knows? I think for the most part we’re playing in the same league, we’re playing against each other. To a certain degree it’s the same for most guys other than the travel.”

One concept Toews does not believe is a potential solution to increase goals: Expanded ice surfaces.

“I definitely think it’s tougher to score on the bigger ice,” he said.

ALEX OVECHKIN:Just Shoot, Baby, Shoot!

Ovie gets the last word, since in most games he gets the last shot on goal. Many before that, too.

Ovechkin once again led the NHL in that category with 395. As a result, his solution to the lack of scoring is simple.

“Just shoot the puck,” he said.

He knows it’s not an easy thing to do — at least for players not named Alex Ovechkin, that is.

“Because of the goaltending situation, because of the defensive situation, I think it’s much more difficult for us to create the opportunities to score goals or even to spend time in the offensive zone,” Ovechkin said. “There are more and more defenceman now who can block shots and who can all skate well. It’s very hard for forwards just to get the opportunities just to shoot the puck and to score goals.”

But he doesn’t want bigger nets. Neither do Crosby, Tavares, Stamkos or Toews.

So, what to do?

“Like I said, just shoot the puck.”

If only it was that simple, Ovie.

Then again, for a six-time 50-plus goal scorer, it is.

But what about everyone else?

LOWEST TOP SCORER SINCE 67-68

87 points — Jamie Benn, Stars (2014-15)

87 — Stan Mikita, Blackhawks (1967-68)

94 — Martin St. Louis, Lightning (2003-04)

96 — Jarome Iginla, Flames (2001-02)

96 — Jaromir Jagr, Penguins (1999-2000)

102 — Jaromir Jagr, Penguins (1997-98)

104 — Sidney Crosby, Penguins (2013-14)

104 — Daniel Sedin, Canucks (2010-11)

106 — Peter Forsberg, Avalanche (2002-03)

109 — Evgeni Malkin, Penguins (2011-12)

110 — Henrik Sedin, Canucks (2009-10)

mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca

@zeisberger