Scheifele makes history as Jets rally for wild shootout win

If the Winnipeg Jets have taught us anything lately, it's that they're never out of it. Trailing by four goals in Chicago, the Jets once again showed their ability to battle back, erasing the deficit and tying the game 4-4 before eventually sending it to a shootout. The comeback was complete when Kyle Connor scored the shootout winner, giving Winnipeg a remarkable 5-4 victory and extending their winning streak to six games.

It was also a historic afternoon for Mark Scheifele, who put together a four-point performance and made franchise history in two different categories. His 930th career point moved him past Dale Hawerchuk as the franchise's all-time leading scorer, while his third assist of the afternoon gave him 554 for his career, moving him past Thomas Steen for the most assists in franchise history. Scheifele now stands alone atop both franchise leaderboards after a memorable afternoon in Chicago.

"Yeah, it’s I think you just got to keep playing. It’s, there's so many flows throughout the game. You never know what's going to happen," said Kyle Connor. 

"And yeah we spot them four there but we're playing the right way, we can score and we just keep playing and keep fighting. You never know, we obviously learn that no matter how much time's on the clock, anything can happen for us."

Tyler Bertuzzi opened the scoring at 1:48 with an excellent individual effort, cutting inside on Haydn Fleury before snapping a quick wrist shot past Skinner on the blocker side to give Chicago an early 1-0 lead.

The Blackhawks doubled their advantage after sustained pressure in the offensive zone forced a Jets turnover. Teuvo Teravainen threaded a seeing-eye pass through traffic to the front of the net, where Anton Frondell got a piece of it and redirected the puck past Skinner to make it 2-0.

Chicago added to its lead late in the first period with a power-play goal from its star forward, Connor Bedard. Patrick Kane found Bedard all alone in front of the net, and he made no mistake, scoring his eighth of the season to give the Blackhawks a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. That would be the end of the day for Skinner as Nico Daws replaced him to start the second period.

Winnipeg had its best opportunity to get on the scoreboard midway through the second period, earning a full two-minute 5-on-3 advantage after Patrick Kane was called for high-sticking and Frank Nazar followed with a tripping penalty on Mark Scheifele at 10:42. The Jets generated three shots during the two-man advantage, but Spencer Knight stood tall to keep Chicago's three-goal lead intact.

Just two minutes after killing off the Jets' 5-on-3, the Blackhawks went back to work on the power play. Nazar and Teravainen played a nice give-and-go, with Nazar finishing the play by beating Daws for his third goal in the last two games and Chicago's second power-play goal of the afternoon.

The moment Jets fans had been waiting for finally arrived with under four minutes remaining in the second period. Josh Morrissey carried the puck in from the point and found Mark Scheifele, who finally beat Knight to make history. His 930th career point moved him past Dale Hawerchuk as the franchise's all-time leading scorer. And he wasn't done making history there. The goal was also the 379th of Scheifele's career, tying Hawerchuk for the most in franchise history.

“It means a lot. It’s pretty incredible," said Scheifele. 

"Never thought I’d be here, but honestly just so blessed to play with the players I’ve played with over my career. Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey, Dustin Byfuglien. Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little. All these guys. I wouldn’t be there without all those guys. Just very blessed.”

And suddenly, the hockey gods gave the Jets a break. Knight went behind his net to play the puck, but his stick became lodged in the boards, allowing Scheifele to pounce on the loose puck. He quickly found Kyle Connor, who made no mistake, ripping home his 17th of the season to bring Winnipeg within two and give the visitors some life. The goal gave Connor his 700th career point on a night of milestones.

If the Jets had taught us anything lately, it was never to count them out. Winnipeg carried its momentum into the third period and needed just 55 seconds to pull within one. With the Jets on the power play, Cole Perfetti was in the right place at the right time, pouncing on a Gabe Vilardi rebound and burying it to make it 4-3. Suddenly, the comeback was very much on.

With Daws on the bench for the extra attacker, Scheifele picked up his fourth point of the night, setting up Gabe Vilardi's tying goal at 18:47 to send the game to overtime. It was also a milestone assist, as Scheifele reached 554 career helpers to move past Thomas Steen for the most in franchise history. It marked the eighth time in the last 12 meetings between the two teams that the game needed extra time.

In the shootout, Scheifele and Kyle Connor both found the back of the net, while Patrick Kane was the lone Blackhawks player to score. Connor's goal would stand as the winner, completing an incredible comeback and giving the Jets a 5-4 victory.

With the win, Winnipeg became just the second team in NHL history to record multiple four-goal comeback victories within a 12-day span. The only other team to accomplish the feat was the Florida Panthers, who did it twice between April 2-5, 2022.

The Jets return home to open a four-game homestand starting Tuesday when they host the Ottawa Senators.