Mark Scheifele put his name in the Winnipeg Jets’ record book and then helped drag his team all the way back from the brink.
Scheifele finished with a goal and three assists in regulation, then scored again in the shootout as the Jets erased a four-goal hole and beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Saturday afternoon. The win was Winnipeg’s sixth straight, and it came with Scheifele passing Dale Hawerchuk to become the franchise’s all-time points leader.
Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi also scored for Winnipeg, while Cole Perfetti added the other goal in regulation. Connor then delivered in the shootout to finish off the comeback.
Chicago looked in control for most of the afternoon. The Blackhawks built a 4-0 lead with four minutes left in the second period, getting goals from Tyler Bertuzzi, Anton Frondell, Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. Teuvo Teravainen and Sam Rinzel each picked up two assists, and Spencer Knight turned aside 27 shots.
The Jets’ first push came from Scheifele at 16:05 of the second period, when he cut the deficit to 4-1 and moved past Hawerchuk, who had 929 points. Winnipeg got another break moments later when Knight’s stick blade got stuck in the end boards while he tried to retrieve a dump-in. He couldn’t free it in time, and Connor buried the chance at 18:01 to make it 4-2.
From there, Winnipeg kept chipping away. Perfetti scored 55 seconds into the third period on a power play, finishing off a rebound to bring the Jets within one. Then, with the goalie pulled late, Vilardi redirected Scheifele’s centering pass into the net at 18:47 to tie it 4-4.
In the shootout, Scheifele scored again, and Connor added the clincher.
Winnipeg’s goaltending situation changed early. Stuart Skinner stopped five of eight shots in the first period before being replaced by Nico Daws, who made 12 saves through regulation and overtime and stopped two of three shootout attempts.
Chicago had jumped out fast. Bertuzzi scored on the Blackhawks’ first shot of the game, beating Skinner with a wrist shot from above the right hash marks at 1:48 of the first period.
Frondell made it 2-0 at 9:07 by deflecting Teravainen’s shot from the right circle. Then, with Chicago on its first power play, Patrick Kane worked the puck behind the net and fed Bedard with a backhand pass from the other side.
Bedard finished with a one-timer from the left circle with four seconds left in the opening period to make it 3-0.
Winnipeg couldn’t cash in on a two-minute, two-man advantage midway through the second period, and Chicago made the Jets pay when Nazar redirected the puck through Daws’ pads on a power play at 14:44 to push the lead to 4-0.
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