Scheifele's hat trick helps Jets to big divisional win over Wild

WINNIPEG - When you're hot, you're hot, and that's exactly what Mark Scheifele is right now for the Winnipeg Jets.
His natural hat trick on Wednesday night not only helped the Jets (21-18-8) to a 6-3 win over the Minnesota Wild, it also extended his goal streak to five games.
In fact, he credits the All-Star break as the key to hitting the reset button.
"I just went down south and got some sun, play some golf and spent some time with some buddies," said Scheifele. "It was nice to live my life a little bit and it's been nice coming back, having a 100% capacity, all of that stuff is a big factor in all of that."
Scheifele finished the night with four points, as did captain Blake Wheeler who assisted on all three of Scheifele's tallies as well as Paul Stastny's empty netter.
Kyle Connor notched his 27th of the season, and Cole Perfetti rounded out the scoring with his first multi-point night in his National Hockey League career, including his first goal on home ice at Canada Life Centre.

"My parents actually made it down here, seeing that first couple of home games and seeing that first goal in person is pretty special," said Perfetti. "Glad they were able to see that. Hopefully able to continue to do it."

The hat trick was the fifth of Scheifele's career and his second this season. Since the All-Star break, Scheifele has amassed seven goals and 11 points in five games. Wheeler has two goals and 10 points in that same span, during which the Jets are 3-1-1.
"For this team to win, our best players have to lead the way," said Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry. "Blake looks like he's back to his old self. He's comfortable with the puck, he's making plays. They've played a lot of games together. They know where each other is going to be."
With the Jets outshooting the Wild 7-3 through the first half of the opening period, the visitors opened the scoring when Jared Spurgeon's point shot went off the skate of Joel Eriksson Ek and past Connor Hellebuyck. Eriksson Ek, who had a goal and an assist in Minnesota's last outing against Detroit, had his 15th of the campaign with assists going to Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin.
It stayed that way until 11:20 into the second, when captain Blake Wheeler won a puck battle below the Minnesota net and came out in front looking for a seam. He found one, slipping a perfect pass under sticks across the crease to Scheifele, who buried his 15th of the season.

The goal also extended Scheifele's point streak to five games, just one game shy of the longest point streak in his career. It was a big goal to bring the Jets back on even footing.
"Sometimes it just takes a little bit to get into the game and you just got to stick to the plan," said Scheifele. "Talbot made some big saves early and Helle made some, too. It's just a matter of sticking with it and not trying to do it all in one shift."
Scheifele wasn't finished either. With 11 seconds left in the middle frame and the Jets on their first power play, Scheifele teed off on a one-timer from just inside the left circle and beat Talbot for his second of the night.
His 16th of the campaign - assisted by Wheeler and Josh Morrissey - gave the Jets a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

Scheifele didn't wait long to finish off the natural hat trick, as Wheeler corralled the rebound from a Brenden Dillon shot, then found Scheifele with a quick cross crease pass 1:07 into the third period. The hats came raining down as Scheifele had scored three straight in 10:47 of game time.
"He's always in the right spot. He's such a smart player, he's so easy to play with," Scheifele said of Wheeler. "I mean, you saw the pass on the first goal, pretty phenomenal the vision there. He's been great after the break as well. I owe all of it to him, and Stas as well."

The Jets didn't wait long to add to the lead either, as Perfetti took a Nate Schmidt point shot off the arm, sending the puck past Talbot just 1:16 after Scheifele's goal to give the Jets a 4-1 lead.
"Fortuitous bounce," Perfetti grinned. "It's nice to do it in front of a full crowd."
Mats Zuccarello turned that into a 4-2 score with his 15th of the season with 15:40 remaining, but that didn't last long either.

Perfetti spotted Connor streaking through the neutral zone, hit him with a cross ice pass, and Connor did the rest - tucking home his 27th of the season on a partial breakaway.
"I kind of saw their D hadn't pivoted yet and I knew if I just threw it over there it would be a pretty good chance that he'd beat him and he did," said Perfetti. "And obviously one-on-one with the goalie, there's not too many goalies that are going to stop him."
Again, the Wild tried to chip away, with Dmitry Kulikov following up a Kirill Kaprizov one-timer and depositing home the rebound for his fourth of the season.
But Stastny's empty-netter with 2:10 remaining in regulation sealed the deal.
Now the Jets have to try and replicate the same result 24 hours from now when they welcome the Seattle Kraken to Winnipeg for the first time.
Expect Scheifele and Wheeler to have a lot to do with that.
"These guys relish that role," said Lowry. "They relish the responsibility and we're seeing the benefits of it right now."