Mark Scheifele tied the game with a minute remaining, before winning it on his 300th career NHL goal just 38 seconds into overtime, as the Winnipeg Jets moved to 2-0-0 on the season with a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night in downtown Winnipeg.
The Jets certainly opened their 2024-25 home schedule with a bang, albeit a late-game bang.
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Facing off against the visiting Blackhawks on Friday, the Jets came out a bit sluggish, but relied on their star forward to seal the deal in the game’s late stages.
No, it wasn’t as strong of a start as the team experienced on the road in its 6-0 shutout victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. But the Jets did escape the first period without a goal against… extending their stretch to four periods to open the season.
Outshooting the Blackhawks 7-5 through 20 minutes, the Jets were in need of a stronger period as the game entered its middle stanza.
However, that wasn’t the case. Despite continuing to remain up top with a slight 18-15 shot lead through 40 minutes, Winnipeg gave up its first goal of the season, thus trailing for the first time.
After both teams exchanged power play opportunities, Winnipeg allowed Ryan Donato to find the first goal of the game, scoring on a partial break up-ice. He beat Connor Hellebuyck with 3:08 remaining in the frame, halting the goaltender’s shutout streak at 96:52.
The rest of the second and most of the third periods passed by without event, as neither club really did much to generate all that much offence.
The high-danger scoring chances were at a minimum, while both goaltenders stood their ground.
It took 58:56 for Winnipeg to score, but when it did, Canada Life Centre erupted.
With Hellebuyck on the bench for the extra attacker, Nikolaj Ehlers’s shot rebounded to Scheifele, who banked it past Oskar Soderberg.
The goal was Scheifele’s second of the season, and served as the game-tying marker, sending it to overtime with fans finally getting a chance to step up out of their seats.
“We had chances all night,” Scheifele said. “Great help on the face-off by all the guys. Obviously, going six on five, there are so many guys, so to get the puck to the net then good things happen. I was just lucky enough to be there and put it home.”
He needed just 38 seconds to finish off the competition with his 300th career NHL goal, scoring a beautiful game-winner off a strong cycle play down low in the Blackhawks end.
“Me and KC and JMo have played together for a long time,” Scheifele said. “We just kind of know the feeling of what coverage is, and it just brought me back to my basketball days, a little pick and roll. It felt good.”
Hellebuyck turned aside 25 of the 26 shots he faced, picking up his second win of the season.
Next up for Winnipeg is the second of four-straight home games, as they take on the Minnesota Wild at 5:00 PM on Sunday.
