With the Winnipeg Jets on their annual mentors trip, Mark Scheifele chose a fitting night to tie one of his biggest hockey mentors for a prestigious franchise milestone.
Scheifele scored twice and added a helper, tying Dale Hawerchuk for the franchise points record and moving within a single marker of him for the goals record too as the Jets crushed the Stars 8-3 in Dallas Thursday night, extending their win streak to five games.
The Jets rode a five-goal second period to the victory for their first regular season win against Dallas since April of 2025 after five straight losses.
“It was incredible,” said Scheifele. “We kinda just got to work. We got on their ‘D’, had good sticks, kinda started moving the way we like to and from there, just were able to create a lot. It was a great period.”
The Jets top line of Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Gabriel Vilardi combined for nine points as each had three-point nights.
It was the first time the Jets scored eight goals in a game and five goals in a single period since December of 2024.
“Wasn’t real pleased with the first but certainly came out and kinda like the third period at home the other night against New Jersey, we played more of a direct game,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We got in and got after their defence. We had five ‘D’. They had five ‘D’ and we were really just working every chance we could to put pucks down by the goal line and try to get after them.”
The Jets struck for five goals over the span of just 19 minutes after recently scoring five goals over a four game stretch during their nine-game losing skid.
“Over these last five games, the confidence now is back,” said Arniel. “When you’re not scoring and you’re losing games, nobody wants to make a play. Everybody wants to get rid of the puck and right now we’re doing the opposite. We’re being very confident. We’re holding onto pucks and creating space for the next guy.
“That’s the feeling that you want to have all the time.”
Dawson Mercer had his second straight two-goal game, while Connor, Vilardi, Dylan Samberg, and Cole Koepke had their other markers.
With another goal on the man advantage, the Jets have now scored seven power play goals over their last four games.
Scheifele needs one more point and two more goals to pass Hawerchuk for both the franchises all-time goals and points records.
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“Words can’t really describe how it feels,” said Scheifele. “It’s pretty incredible. Just the amazing player that he was and what he meant to the city of Winnipeg and what he meant to me – it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
The Jets lost defenceman Dylan DeMelo to a lower-body injury in the first period. He’ll definitely miss their next game and likely more.
“Mel will be week-to-week here,” said Arniel.
The game didn’t start well for the Jets as it took Dallas just over four minutes to break the ice with their top line cashing in on the transition.
The Stars broke the puck out of their own zone on a 3-on-2 with Arttu Hyry carrying it into the neutral zone before sliding it over to Thomas Harley. Harley took it across the Jets’ blue line, then sent a pass to his right to Roope Hintz. He found Hyry cutting to the slot, who wired a shot past Stuart Skinner to make it 1-0.
Both teams had to play most of the game with just five blueliners as Lian Bischel went down with a leg injury early for Dallas while DeMelo also left the game with a leg injury in the first.
Winnipeg appeared to tie the game on the power play with 3:21 to go in the first when Cole Perfetti found Connor in his familiar spot with the man advantage. Dallas challenged the play, believing there was a missed call for offside on the zone entry and they were right as Perfetti just barely got in early, wiping the goal off the board.
That proved huge as Dallas made it 2-0 with 1:28 left. The play began with Nils Lundkvist having the puck in his own end and passing it to Jason Robertson near centre ice. With two players going for Robertson, he one-touched the puck to a streaking Hintz down the left wing.
That sprung Hintz in on a breakaway and he beat Skinner five-hole on the backhand.
Both teams wound up getting 12 shots on goal in the first, with Winnipeg getting five of their 12 on their one power play look.
It took just 71 seconds for the Jets to find the back of the net in the second period. Scheifele tried to drive the puck to the net in the Dallas end but had it stripped. The puck hit a couple of Stars players before skittering to the point where Samberg snapped a harmless-looking shot that somehow found its way past Jake Oettinger.
The Jets tied the game with 7:03 gone in the period and once again it was Winnipeg’s top line getting it done. Josh Morrissey sent the puck to the slot from the right point, looking for a redirection from Connor. Oettinger made the initial save but nobody could find the puck as it trickled into the slot where Scheifele found it and potted it for his fifth of the season.
Dallas regained the lead at the 11:14 mark when a Harley point shot grazed off David Perron in front and past Skinner for Perron’s first as a Star.
But the lead was short-lived as Winnipeg drew level again less than three minutes later. A bad clear in the Dallas end allowed Mercer to intercept it along the half-wall before sending it to Brayden Yager on the other side of the zone. He was chased by a couple of defenders before giving it to Perfetti in the slot, who sent a great pass to a wide-open Mercer at the backdoor for his fourth in the last three games.
Yager also picked up his first career assist on the play.
Dallas had a golden look to take the lead again with less than four minutes to go in the period when Wyatt Johnston got the puck in the slot and was all alone as he fired a shot that Skinner robbed with the glove.
It was a pivotal save as Winnipeg would take their first lead of the night on the power play with 1:48 remaining.
The Jets cycled the puck low in the Dallas zone with Perfetti and Connor playing catch before Connor sent it to Vilardi at the faceoff dot to the left of Oettinger. As multiple Stars closed in around Vilardi, he sent a pass to the other faceoff dot where Scheifele was waiting to blast a one-timer home for his second of the night, making it 4-3 Winnipeg.
In the dying seconds, the Jets would get some insurance. Perfetti carried the puck over the Dallas blue line with Mercer streaking down the middle, just barely keeping himself onside as he drove past the Dallas defence. Perfetti slid him the puck and Mercer did the rest, freezing Oettinger with a deke before depositing the puck into the open net for fourth goal in the last two games.
The Jets outshot the Stars 14-9 in the second with five of them getting past Oettinger.
And they extended their lead just a minute into the third when Connor took a pass from Vilardi at the faceoff dot before ripping a shot high over the glove of Oettinger, ending his night early. It was Connor’s 16th goal of the season.
Scheifele picked up an assist on the play to tie him with Hawerchuk for the franchise points record with 929.
Vilardi made it 7-3 with 4:48 to go, sprung on a 2-on-1 as a Dallas defender fell near his own blue line. He had Scheifele cutting to the net and wanted to pass it to him to give him a chance at the record but Jamie Benn took the passing lane away, so Vilardi took the shot and beat Casey DeSmith for just his second of the season.
The Jets continued to pile on just 14 seconds later when Koepke beat DeSmith with a shot from the slot for his third of the campaign.
Skinner wound up making 30 saves on the night to earn the win.
The Jets will try to make it six wins in a row when they pay Chicago a visit Saturday afternoon.
Source: globalnews.ca
