DALLAS — Mark Scheifele stepped out of the penalty field and into the arms of his teammates. Recreation 6 couldn’t have ended worse for the Winnipeg Jets however there they have been, ready to hug him, even after the series-ending handshake line had begun.
Scheifele performed Recreation 6 against the Dallas Stars for his father, Brad, who died in a single day Friday, and for his teammates, whose hearts broke for him as soon as after they heard the information and once more when Thomas Harley scored in overtime for a 2-1 win. That it was Scheifele within the penalty field, referred to as for a late third-period tripping penalty that negated a breakaway, was a merciless finish to an already devastating day.
Adam Lowry hugged Scheifele because the Stars celebrated. Lowry then waited beside the swarm of Jets, every embracing Scheifele in flip, every attempting to console him at an inconsolable time.
“You wish to give him the power,” Lowry stated, combating again tears. “You wish to get that (penalty kill) so unhealthy… We simply couldn’t do it.”
For Scheifele, Recreation 6 began as a solution to honour his dad. It ended with extra heartbreak, however not with out braveness within the face of a devastating loss.
The timing of Brad Scheifele’s dying was a shock, however the Scheifele household had the prospect to make a plan. What would Mark do if his dad, whose well being had taken a flip, died in the course of the playoffs? The Scheifele’s household choice — made privately, lived publicly — will go down in Jets playoff lore: Scheifele would play, and he would play his coronary heart out.
That’s precisely what he did. It was Scheifele who dragged the Jets out of their disjointed begin, ending off the game-opening objective.
THAT ONE WAS FOR DAD 💙 pic.twitter.com/gI5Zj2MeGd
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) May 18, 2025
Scheifele adopted up on Nikolaj Ehlers’ stopped breakaway try, successful the puck off the left wing boards and firing his personal shot try. Scheifele then snuck behind Alex Petrovic to stuff Kyle Connor’s rebound between Jake Oettinger’s pads.
Neal Pionk, who was one among Winnipeg’s different prime gamers in Recreation 6, was blown away by Scheifele’s efficiency.
“For him to play tonight and play the best way he did is flat out, one of the brave issues I’ve ever seen,” Pionk stated.
Pionk is properly conscious of the significance of group throughout troublesome occasions. He has mourned the dying of his shut pal, Adam Johnson, partially with the assistance of the Jets.
He stated Winnipeg’s gamers needed to ship Scheifele the message that they have been there for him.
“We’re a household, Scheif’s a giant a part of our household, and we’re right here for him it doesn’t matter what. That was a ‘We weren’t leaving the ice with out him’ sort of factor,” Pionk stated. “We did every thing we might to get him and his household a win, simply didn’t pull by way of.”
Winnipeg’s Spherical 2 sequence loss could be picked aside in a lot of methods. There was the Jets’ incapacity to win a sport on the highway. There was Mason Appleton’s weak shot, stopped by a diving Oettinger after Connor and Lowry labored an excellent passing play to get Appleton a cross-ice feed. There was Petrovic’s kick objective, the Jets’ ensuing Recreation 3 collapse, and there was additionally the Jets’ mediocre efficiency at dwelling in Recreation 1. Winnipeg’s series-opening sport (and Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick in that sport) could ultimately come to hang-out Winnipeg greater than the devastating finish to Recreation 6. The evaluation of Winnipeg’s season and upcoming offseason will come within the coming days.
However the story of Winnipeg’s Recreation 6 loss is inextricably related to Scheifele and the lack of his dad.
Scheifele was simply attempting to get the puck to the online with 22 seconds left within the third interval, however Sam Metal blocked his shot and chased down the bouncing puck. Scheifele skated after him because the seconds ticked away, diving to attempt to cease Metal’s breakaway, in the end pulling him down. The referees had stored their whistles to themselves throughout so many different altercations in Recreation 6 however couldn’t let Scheifele’s journey go uncalled.
The Jets killed the primary 15 seconds of Scheifele’s penalty to finish the third interval and all however 13 seconds of it in time beyond regulation. The Jets might have misplaced in another means with another participant within the field but it surely appeared notably merciless that it was Scheifele — after such a very good sport, so quickly after shedding his dad.
He’d given every thing he might.
“I’m so happy with him and his dad can be so happy with him. He needed to win so unhealthy,” coach Scott Arniel stated. “The circumstances (have been) so, so robust … His dad and his household can be very happy with him.”
And isn’t that what so many people need in life? The chance to do one factor — massive or small, publicly or privately, on the ice or off of it — that makes our family members proud. Scheifele was dealt a brutal second on Saturday. He met it with braveness and coronary heart on hockey’s greatest stage. With the help of his teammates and his household, he could proceed to satisfy it with braveness and coronary heart. What extra of an emotional response might there be than that?
Scott Arniel speaks moments after the Jets’ season involves an finish pic.twitter.com/oO64HhS8O8
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 18, 2025
When Scheifele first arrived on the guests’ dressing room, he was surrounded by teammates, too. The times’ loss was evident in his sullen expression, however his presence indicated his desire to play before Arniel confirmed it.
“As he stated, that’d be the needs of his dad: He would have needed him to play,” Arniel stated.
The Jets’ cultural progress between lacking the playoffs in 2022 and displaying up for each other so poignantly after Recreation 6 deserves a second.
Three years in the past, Jets’ gamers referred to as one another out for not enjoying for each other. Two years in the past, former coach Rick Bowness accused his crew of getting “no pushback” as they performed to a lackluster effort in opposition to Vegas. Final yr, the trouble was higher however the Jets have been clearly outclassed by Colorado. These points aren’t holding Winnipeg again anymore.
Whereas they weren’t in a position to come all the best way again from 3-1 down, the Jets confirmed resilience all through these playoffs.
Winnipeg gained Recreation 7 in opposition to St. Louis in historic trend and fought off elimination in opposition to Dallas in Recreation 5 on Thursday. It overcame accidents to Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Josh Morrissey. Winnipeg rallied round Scheifele throughout his private tragedy, took Recreation 6 in opposition to Dallas to time beyond regulation, and outscored Dallas 14-13 in Spherical 2. Then, when Harley scored the objective that gained the sequence for Dallas, the Jets had the presence of thoughts to go straight to Scheifele for help.
“I can’t stress sufficient how proud I’m of our group,” Arniel stated. “When issues are onerous and issues are robust, particularly this yr, we didn’t cower away from it. We confronted it head on.”
Recreation 6 in opposition to Dallas gave Jets followers the chance to see Winnipeg’s gamers present nice take care of one another in a public setting. Arniel shed some gentle on Winnipeg’s management group behind the scenes; it actually does appear that the Jets’ tradition is in a greater place.
“I’ve seen it construct during the last couple of years,” Arniel stated. “It begins in our room with our veterans, our leaders, Low, Scheif, JMo a few of these guys and clearly different veterans who’ve been right here for some time: Helly, P (Pionk), these guys. They do a unbelievable job in our room, definitely how they welcome (individuals) in but additionally acknowledge there’s a means we glance after one another, how we take care of one another, each on and off the ice.”
These playoffs felt like progress. It’s simpler to imagine that this core has the items to succeed as a result of the Jets backed up their refreshing earnestness in final yr’s exit interviews with a high-quality season from begin to end.
However a return to this season’s high quality of play is not going to be simple.
Winnipeg’s roster would ideally be supplemented by much more ahead high quality and one other defender who can clear Connor Hellebuyck’s sightlines. Urgent roster issues embrace Nikolaj Ehlers’ free agent standing, plus the necessity to prolong restricted free brokers Gabriel Vilardi and Dylan Samberg. Mason Appleton and Brandon Tanev are additionally pending UFAs; Morgan Barron and Rasmus Kupari are Winnipeg’s different RFAs.
For the second, the urgent concern is the Jets’ emotional loss.
The hockey world loves you, 55 💙 pic.twitter.com/5dmtIK4vRD
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 18, 2025
Lowry referred to as it “heartbreaking.”
“We felt like we had a terrific common season. We felt like we had a crew that would go on a run,” Lowry stated. “For it to finish the best way it did and every thing else surrounding the day, it’s simply lots of emotion. It’s robust to place into phrases what Mark went by way of as we speak. Will get an enormous objective for us, performs a heck of a sport, and it ends the best way it does.”
(Prime photograph: Jerome Miron / Imagn Photos)
