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Scheifele Shines as Jets Rally for Home Opener Victory
In their inaugural home game of the regular season, the Winnipeg Jets found themselves struggling for the better part of 59 minutes against the Chicago Blackhawks. The crowd was largely subdued until a late-game surge by center Mark Scheifele electrified the arena.
As the clock wound down with the Jets trailing 1-0, Scheifele managed to level the score with just 1:04 remaining in regulation. He then clinched victory for Winnipeg by netting the winning goal a mere 38 seconds into overtime, leading to a 2-1 triumph over Chicago. “You need your best players to come up big at the right times, and they did,” stated Jets head coach Scott Arniel after the game.
Scheifele’s goal marked a personal milestone as it was the 300th of his career, contributing to his impressive tally of three goals in the opening two games of the season. Reflecting on the game, Scheifele noted, “That’s the way hockey goes; sometimes it takes 59 minutes to get one home and bring it to overtime. It’s never over until it’s over.”
Despite the thrilling finish, Coach Arniel pointed out that the team’s performance fell short of expectations compared to their prior 6-0 victory in Edmonton on Wednesday night. “Our whole group, our execution wasn’t very good. We had 10-foot passes and we were missing guys; just our execution altogether wasn’t very good for 60 minutes,” he said.
The victory marked the seventh consecutive year that the Jets have won their home opener, and they further extended their streak to 10 straight regular-season victories dating back to last season. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made his second consecutive start, recording 25 saves and allowing just one goal across two games.
Hockey fans had to wait until the 16:52 mark of the second period for the game’s first goal, scored by Ryan Donato of the Blackhawks, who found the net on Hellebuyck’s short side to give Chicago a 1-0 advantage. Scheifele acknowledged the team faced challenges during the game but credited Hellebuyck’s pivotal saves for maintaining a chance to win. “There were times in that second period where we got away from it a bit, and Bucky made some big saves,” he said. “From there, I think we kinda buckled down, got the puck deep, made their D work, and hemmed them in a couple of times to create chances and just got back to our game.”
Defender Josh Morrissey also played a crucial role by assisting on the overtime goal, bringing his total to three assists through the first two games of the season. This matchup was the first of four consecutive games at the Canada Life Centre for the Jets, who will look to build on this momentum as they face another Central Division foe, the Minnesota Wild, next. The pregame broadcast will begin on 680 CJOB at 3 p.m., with the puck set to drop shortly after 5 p.m.
Source
globalnews.ca