Mark Scheifele moved into first-place on the Winnipeg Jets’ all-time points scoring leaderboard as the Jets took care of business at home against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Scheifele scored an early first period power play goal – Winnipeg’s first of the 4-1 victory against its Central Division rival – Jonathan Toews picked up two helpers, while Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 30 of the 31 shots he faced in the Jets’ fourth-straight win.
Scheifele’s sixth goal of the season was his 813th career point, which surpassed former linemate and captain Blake Wheeler for the most all-time within the Jets franchise. Just 2:39 into the opening frame, Scheifele hammered home a power play one-timer, bringing the crowd to its collective. Wheeler provided a video tribute to which fans also gave Scheifele a standing ovation.
“That was really special. The fans here are incredible,” he said post-game. “They give us so much extra motivation. We really do have amazing fans. I am lucky to be a part of such a tremendous organization and tremendous community and I’m very honoured to be here.”
The Jets added another tally on a Nino Niederreiter breakaway off a perfect stretch pass from Vlad Namestnikov. They ended the first period up 11-4 on the shot chart and held onto a 2-0 lead.
The middle stanza saw another strong outing from Winnipeg’s penalty kill. Four chintzy penalties against the home team gave Nashville a hefty edge in shots, as the Predators put up 16 to Winnipeg’s four. Connor Hellebuyck and the defenders stood tall, holding their 2-0 lead through 40 minutes.
After throwing down with Michael McCarron in a second period tilt, Logan Stanley found his way onto the score sheet in the third period. He hammered home a heavy 94 MPH slap shot from the point, bulging the twine behind Saros, and putting the game out of reach for Nashville.
“Yeah. Obviously, when we lost Samberg, everybody would have to stand up and I think that he’s done that,” head coach Scott Arniel said of Stanley. “I think that, when you get a little bit more ice time, you’ve got to take advantage of it. He’s trying to make it hard on us as a staff, when Sammy comes back. You have to present the opportunity and it’s theirs to go and take and make the most of it and he’s done that.”
Toews earned his second assist of the game on a power play nifty feed to Namestnikov, who scored Winnipeg’s second goal of the game on the man advantage, making it 4-0.
“It’s great. If you don’t play games for as long as he did, it’ll obviously take a lot of time,” Scheifele added. “But I think he’s gotten better every game. Talking to him, I know he just wants to continue to grow, continue to get better and learn and he’s a big part of this team on and off the ice.”
Michael Bunting ruined Hellebuyck’s bid for a shut-out as he put home a weird one off a broken stick play with just 1:04 remaining, which marked the 4-1 final.
Hellebuyck finished the night with 30 saves on the 31 Predators shots sent his way, while Saros made 20 saves on the 24 pucks delivered by Winnipeg.
Next up for the Jets is a quick trip to Calgary, as Winnipeg will face the Flames on Monday before retuning home for back-to-back games against the Kraken and those same Flames on Thursday and Friday.
