Jets' Scheifele playing with a vengeance after 4 Nations snub

It’s no secret Mark Scheifele gets an extra jolt when he faces off against the Leafs.

Rewind three years ago to that infamous clip of Scheifele handing out the player of the game helmet after the Winnipeg Jets beat the Toronto Maple Leafs at home.

“Hey boys,” Scheifele said as he stood near the centre of the Jets’ dressing room with the helmet up high. “Is there anything better than beating the Leafs? Hey? Anything better?”

It’s a line that resonates with Winnipegers, many of whom feel looked down upon by those in the centre of the Hockey universe. Scheifele may hail from Kitchener, Ont., however, after 12 years as a Jet, he, too, seems to have developed that same bitter taste in his mouth. And he always shows up in those games, having recorded 37 points in 29 career games against Toronto.

You know what makes beating the Leafs even sweeter? Doing it in front of your friends and family. And on Monday, Scheifele’s four-point outing — which included a hat trick — propelled the Jets to a 5-2 win at Scotiabank Arena.

“I get a bit extra excited to play here,” Scheifele told reporters moments after giving a wide grin when asked about the significance of the game.

But Leafs aside, Scheifele’s been playing with a vengeance lately.

In the nearly three-week span since being snubbed for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the 31-year-old — who is on pace for a career-high 96 points — has kicked things up a notch. Since Dec. 4, Scheifele is tied for the second most goals (eight), ranks seventh in points (15) and only Auston Matthews and William Nylander have recorded more five-on-five high-danger shot attempts than him (17).

“He’ll be on that Olympic team, I got no doubts,” Kyle Connor told reporters. “He’ll take this motivation and he’s the type of player that can ramp it up like that.”

Monday was a perfect example of that.

There were moments, like his assist early in the second period — where he pounced on a broken play, carried the puck into the offensive zone and opened his hips before dishing the puck to Kyle Connor, who made it 2-0 — that were trademark Scheifele. And then there were sequences that aren’t a staple of his game, although they’ve become more prevalent lately.

His first goal, with 16:34 left in the third period, came from crashing the net and tapping in a beautiful pass from Gabriel Vilardi to make it 3-1. Later in the period, with 8:08 remaining, Vilardi found Scheifele again. This time, he was in all alone — right above the blue paint — on Joseph Woll. After his initial backhand deke was denied, Scheifele saw that the puck wasn’t covered.

“It was just under his skate blade,” Scheifele said. “That's kind of why I kept fighting and I really don't know how it ended up in the net but… you don't ask."

And it doesn’t matter. The point is that he went to the dirty areas of the ice. It wasn’t a one-off moment either — as indicated by his recent volume of high-danger shot attempts — and it’s an encouraging development for a player who often prefers to veer off to the perimeter and facilitate from the flank. It’s a testament to Scheifele’s evolution.

When he came into the league, Scheifele was lauded as the game’s next great talent. In recent years, the love for him leaguewide has soured, with many coining him as a one-dimensional centre and he’s become an afterthought when people rank the best centres in the game. And it wasn’t too long ago that a large sector of Jets fans had seen enough of him.

But this post-snub version of Scheifele, coupled with what he’s shown since the start of the year, isn’t a flash in the pan. It’s a response. A hockey junkie like Scheifele knows what’s been written about him.

And he knows what Winnipegers want to hear. Which is why when he accepted this year’s player of the game badge-of-honour — a pilot’s jacket — he subtly replicated his infamous shot at the Leafs.

“Hey, is there anything better than winning…right before Christmas,” he said before grinning from ear-to-ear.

Back-to-back statement wins

It may seem silly to deem the last two games as ‘must-wins,’ but in a way they were.

The Jets had gone 8-9-1 since their 15-1-0 start to the season and there was a litany of alarming trends emerging.

Arniel wasn’t ready to sound off any alarm bells on Friday morning.

“I don’t know if you guys have seen the standings,” he told reporters “We are number one in the league. I don’t know if you notice that.”

And hey, kudos to the Jets. They reaffirmed that with their last two wins. Against both Minnesota and Toronto, they got contributions from all four lines and they controlled the pace of play at five-on-five. Through those six periods, the Jets generated 23 five-on-five high danger shot attempts, while only allowing 12 against.

Their special teams were pristine. The power play was exceptional as usual — converting on three of their seven attempts — while the penalty kill killed off five of their seven opportunities.

It was exactly the type of showing you’d want heading into the Christmas break. And for the time being, it surely alleviates a lot of the doubts surrounding this team.

Other Thoughts 

• Haydn Fleury left the game late in the second period after getting tangled up with Connor Dewar. He was holding his knee down on the ice and had to be helped off the ice. Arniel said he’s “day-to-day” for now. Fleury has been filling in for Dylan Samberg.

• Ville Heinola picked a good night to have a good game. If Fleury’s out, he’s the next man up to join the top-four. And even if Fleury is fine once the Jets get back from the break, it would be a mistake to take Heinola out of the lineup — given that he’s finally starting to find his stride. Not only was Heinola moving the puck effectively but he made a couple swift defensive reads. One of these came in the first period, when Heinola killed a play down low and then passed the puck up the ice, which generated a transition chance. 

• David Gustafsson has re-ignited the Jets fourth line. While Rasmus Kupari had a pretty firm handle on the fourth-line centre role for a while, it’s hard to foresee Arniel parking the ‘Gus Bus’ in the garage anytime soon. While Gustafsson doesn't have Kupari's wheels, he's a sound defensive player who can also help sustain offensive zone pressure off the cycle. With Gustafsson over Kupari, that line's less of a transition threat, but frankly, with a fourth line, that shouldn't be a priority anyway. And Gustafsson, when he's on his game, is much more efficient at playing a chip-and-chase game. If that line ever caught against a dangerous top-six centre, I'd rather have Gustafsson be tasked with shutting down the player.