WINNIPEG — It was only fitting that Mark Scheifele rose to the occasion in his 800th career game.
“Elite players have a more of a calming influence in themselves,” Scott Arniel said after Saturday’s practice. “Where everybody else’s heart rate might be running at a 200, those guys are in those moments — in the last minute of a game — and they’re just normal.”
Scheifele’s play on Sunday — where the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-1 — was a prime example of that.
With 2.9 seconds left in the first period, Arniel pulled the goalie ahead of an offensive-zone faceoff. Scheifele was situated as the trigger man — behind face-off ace Adam Lowry — in a sequence that seldom pays off, given the limited time and space. But Lowry won the draw back to Scheifele. And No. 55 made no mistake, ripping a slapshot past Filip Gustavsson’s blocker to tie the game at one.
“With the two-and-a-half seconds left or whatever it is (2.9), you’re trying to hit that inside hole, the Ovi (Ovechkin) hole,” Lowry said. “You draw it up like that and it very rarely goes exactly according to plan. But it was a big goal for us and it ended up being the tying goal that got us to overtime.”
Scheifele drew a holding-the-stick penalty with six seconds remaining in the third period. The night almost ended on a damper when he turned the puck over 23 seconds into overtime, sending Marat Khusnutdinov with a clear lane to a breakaway. But Scheifele backchecked behind Khusnutdinov, stripping him of the puck deep into the defensive zone before the latter could get a shot off. Moments later, the Jets returned to the offensive zone and Josh Morrissey fed Scheifele in his office — the left-side face-off dot. He feathered a pass between the sticks of Khusnutdinov and Brock Faber to a wide-open Kyle Connor. Connor cradled the puck on the opposite faceoff dot and ripped the puck over Gustavsson’s shoulder.
It was yet another example of how Scheifele is among the NHL’s crème de la crème when the stakes are at their highest. Since the 2016-17 season, Scheifele is tied for third in overtime points (11) and tied for second in overtime goals (13). Through that same span, Scheifele is also tied for third in playoff goals per game (0.55) among players who skated in at least 30 playoff games.
It’s early, of course, but the two-time NHL All-Star has kicked his game up a notch out of the gate, tallying four goals and six points in his first three games.
MR. 800
Hitting the 800-game mark is special in of itself, but the fact Scheifele has done it all in Winnipeg — where he was the first selection in Jets 2.0 history — is storybook. Especially considering Winnipeg went off the board to take him.
“A feather goes in the cap for the scouting staff and [Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff] to draft him,” Lowry said. “I remember there was a lot of question marks when we took him over [Sean Couturier] and some other guys that were available. Not to say that [those players] haven’t had great careers but I think [Winnipeg] made a great choice. Mark’s kind of became the face of the Winnipeg Jets, with [Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey]. To have your first-ever draft pick have this storybook career with one organization, it’s pretty rare. It’s remarkable and we’re really lucky to have him.”
KC COOKING
We’d be remiss not to tip our cap to Connor, the yin to Scheifele’s yang.
Tonight’s overtime winner was another example of how automatic those two are, when they have time and space.
“KC, he’s got quickness, he’s got good burst,” Arniel said postgame. “[Scheifele will] find him. Scheif is pretty good at passing and finding him when [Connor] comes in the offensive zone. KC does a great job of hiding, kind of darting in and darting out.
“KC does a great job of not staying in one spot, he’s always on the move. And Schief finds a way to find him.”
Connor registered eight shots tonight and four of them were scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
“He’s a guy that shoots from all angles, all places,” Arniel said. “He did it the other night, — he had a couple off the mask a couple off the shoulder — his release is so good that you want him to do that. You don’t want him not to take his shots. When he’s on, he’s finding holes. He’s finding places on the ice so he can get that shot away.”
SECOND LINE STRUGGLES CONTINUE
It was yet another night to forget for the Jets’ second line of Nikolaj Ehlers, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti. Over their first three games — while averaging just shy of 10 minutes per night — the trio has controlled just 16.1 per cent of the expected goal share when they’re on the ice.
Arniel made a point to mention that the three were creating more in transition Sunday night. And they were. It was a stark contrast from the first two games, where it seemed like every sequence was being nixed before they got to the blueline.
“We met yesterday,” Arniel said of the three. “Those guys are taking full ownership in where they’re at but we’re three games into it. I think that they’re still growing amongst each other.”