Mark Scheifele says Winnipeg Jets ‘desperate’ to extend season in Dallas

Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) celebrates a goal by Nikolaj Ehlers on Dallas Stars' goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) during first-period NHL playoff action in Winnipeg, Friday, May 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Greenslade

WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets are about to find out if they can pull off a rare feat.

They flew to Dallas for Game 6 on Saturday night, down 3-2 in their best-of-seven series against the Stars — and with no recent road success to draw from.

Winnipeg has dropped all five road games during this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs and nine straight dating back to 2023.

“Obviously, we haven’t had a road win but just got to treat this like it’s Game 7, have that desperation and give it our all to get back in front of our fans again,” Jets centre Mark Scheifele said at the Winnipeg airport Friday.

The Jets have been outscored 25-8 on the road during the post-season, and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck has struggled mightily away from home.

He was pulled in three road games during the first-round series against St. Louis and enters Dallas with a 5.84 goals-against average and .793 save percentage away from home.

Scott Arniel, in his first year as Winnipeg’s head coach after two seasons as associate coach, isn’t concerned that his players will dwell on their road struggles.

“Every streak ends, whether it’s a good one or a bad one,” he said. “And we’re planning on doing that (Saturday).

“Can’t do anything about what’s all behind us now. It’s a case of us making sure that what comes on the ice (Saturday) is the best product we can bring. Continue what we did (Thursday) night. There’s a lot of real positives there and build on that and just put that forward.”

The Jets fell 5-2 in Game 3 in Dallas, then put up more of a fight in Game 4 before losing 3-1.

That effort, coupled with Thursday’s 4-0 home victory in Game 5, bodes well for the next challenge, Arniel said.

“We were really good in (Game) 4 and probably should have been rewarded a little bit more in that one,” he said. “But we didn’t get enough traffic into the net and around the net.

“I thought (Thursday) night we did a better job of attacking, getting inside, and our game looked more like our game (Thursday) night.”

The team also knows it can survive elimination in this year’s Western Conference playoffs.

Winnipeg won Game 7 in the first round against St. Louis in double overtime. In Thursday’s victory, it outshot the Stars 35-22 while scoring a pair of power-play goals.

It’s a change from the previous two seasons, when they lost both first rounds in five games to Colorado last year and Vegas in 2023.

“We just have a good team,” Scheifele said when asked what’s changed. “That desperation can bring the best out in you, so I’m really proud of this group.”

Scheifele scored Thursday’s first goal, a shot that went off Stars forward Wyatt Johnston and then defenceman Thomas Harley’s skate.

“Sometimes you’ve got to put it in an unorthodox way, but obviously it proved to be a big goal and hopefully we can do that in Dallas,” Scheifele said.

The Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy this year with a franchise-record 56 wins and 116 points in the regular season.

They’re trying to reach the conference final for the first time since 2018, when they fell in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Edmonton Oilers await the winner of the series.

BAD BENN

Stars forward Jamie Benn was fined US$5,000 Friday for roughing Scheifele with 6:32 left in the third period of Thursday’s match.

Benn sucker-punched Scheifele in the head while the Jets forward was being held back by linesman Ryan Daisy during a scrum. The official and Scheifele both fell to the ice.

Benn was given a minor penalty for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct. Scheifele also got dinged with a roughing call.

It was a chaotic moment that still baffles Scheifele.

“It was hard for me to understand what was going on,” he said. “My face hurts. There’s not much I can really say in this situation.”

He can’t recall the last time he got punched like that.

“I’m not much of a fighter, so I can’t really remember,” Scheifele said. “It was tough, I couldn’t really protect myself. My arms were pinned at my sides, so definitely didn’t feel good.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press