Jets proud of Scheifele’s emotional Game 6 effort after death of father

DALLAS -- As Mark Scheifele came out of the penalty box on Saturday, his Winnipeg Jets teammates surrounded him, each taking a turn to hug their star center who was playing after his father, Brad, passed away unexpectedly on Friday.

As the Jets started to line up to shake hands with the Dallas Stars after they were eliminated in overtime, Scheifele hugged Connor Hellebuyck, his head buried in the goalie’s shoulder.

“For him to go through what he had to go through, and perform the way he did, so proud of him. And his dad would be so proud of him,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said after the Stars defeated the Jets 2-1 in overtime of Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

The end for the Jets came when Stars defenseman Thomas Harley scored a power-play goal at 1:33 of overtime. Scheifele was in the box after he was called for tripping Stars forward Sam Steel with 15 seconds remaining in regulation.

“(Scheifele) wanted to win so bad. The circumstances, so, so tough,” Arniel said. “Being in a situation like that, I couldn't imagine it. The pro that he is, the leader that he is, the year that he had with us, his dad and his family would be very proud of him.”

The Stars advance to the Western Conference Final for the third straight season. They’ll host the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 at American Airlines Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Scheifele had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games, second on the Jets to linemate, left wing Kyle Connor with 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 13 games. Scheifele missed Games 6 and 7 of the first round against the St. Louis Blues after sustaining an undisclosed injury in the first period of Game 5.

The Jets got the news on Brad Scheifele when they got to American Airlines Center on Saturday morning. Arniel went back to the team hotel immediately to talk with Mark Scheifele. About two and a half hours prior to the game, Arniel told the media Scheifele would play in Game 6 because, “Mark really wants to play for (his dad).”

His teammates were there for him the whole time.

“I know we have a great group here,” Jets defenseman Neal Pionk said. “So that was what I knew going in, once we found out the news, that he was going to have a great support group and we were going to be there for him and through the highs and the lows, and obviously today was a real low.

“Yeah, did everything we could to give words of encouragement, and for him to play tonight and play the way he did is flat out, one of the most courageous things I've ever seen. So, all the credit to him.

Indeed, it was Scheifele who got the Jets going, scoring his fifth goal of the postseason to give them a 1-0 lead at 5:28 of the second period. It was an opportunity for Scheifele to smile as his teammates surrounded him for a positive reason, the goal undoubtedly for his dad.

Scheifele logged 18:51 of ice time, scored a goal, won 7 of 12 face-offs and led the Jets with nine hits.

“That’s tough,” said Steel, who scored Dallas’ first goal on Saturday. “We find out (about Scheifele’s dad) today, a group of us, when we had lunch, and we were all just absolutely gutted for him. I’m not sure I could do what he did tonight. It’s pretty brave of him. He played his heart out.”

It was a tough end to the season for the Jets. They had high aspirations after winning the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded annually to the team that finishes with the most points in the regular season. They fought through key injuries. They mustered a tremendous comeback in the final two minutes of regulation in Game 7 of the first round to get the opportunity to play the Stars.

Saturday’s end was cruel in so many ways for the Jets and especially for Scheifele. He wanted to play for his late father, wanted to be there to help the Jets get to the conference final for the first time since 2018, and he put forth a tremendous effort to try and do that. It wasn’t to be.

“Heartbreaking,” Jets captain Adam Lowry said. “You know, we felt like we had a great regular season, we felt like we had a team that could go on a run. For it to end the way it did and everything else surrounding the day, it’s just a lot of emotion.

“It’s tough to put into words what Mark went through today. Gets a huge goal for us, plays a heck of a game, and it ends the way it does. Just emotional, heavy. Really proud of the group we had. The commitment, the no quit, a lot of things that a good team needs. We ran into a great Dallas team. We couldn’t find that extra one tonight and that was the difference.”

On Sunday morning, Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who coached Scheifele in Winnipeg for nine seasons (2013-22), expressed how proud he was of how the latter handled himself. The Panthers visit the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

“On behalf of myself and my family and the entire Florida Panther organization, our deepest sympathies and condolences to Mark Scheifele, his family and the Winnipeg Jet family,” Maurice said. “The Scheifele family is very close and I think just as an observation from last night, the display of courage and focus for Mark to do what he did and possibly an even greater display of the power of the family, of the Scheifele family but the Winnipeg Jet family, for him to have played with his brothers. And that extends out to (Jets coach) Scott Arniel and (GM) Kevin Cheveldayoff and (executive chairman) Mark Chipman and all the Winnipeg Jet fans built a culture of family there that allowed that inspiration to happen. So, again, a thank you to them for that display and also our condolences to them.”

NHL.com senior writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report