Scheifele, Jets Whip Bruins 8-1 in Testy Tuesday Night Affair

It appears as though Mark Scheifele took his Team Canada snub personally.

No matter what the 31-year-old may or may not have said about it at the time or after the fact, being kept off the roster of Canada's best players certainly lit a fire under Winnipeg's top scorer.

On Tuesday, with Team Canada's general manager Don Sweeney in attendance, Scheifele put the Winnipeg Jets on his back, scoring twice and adding an assist as he helped his mates take down Sweeney's Boston Bruins 8-1.

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“You’re just happy to play a good game," Scheifele said, post-game, downplaying the significance of Sweeney's presence.

"Of course he’s the GM. But you just want to go out there and give it your all for your team and get a win. Obviously, we needed one at home here and I thought that was a great response there by all of us.”

On top of Scheifele's two markers, the Jets also received goals from six others , while Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for his 18th win of the season.

Namestnikov opened the scoring for Winnipeg with 9:30 to go in the first period. With Brandon Carlo in the box serving a double-minor for high-sticking Kyle Connor, the Jets' second power play unit struck.

It was a Neal Pionk point shot that rattled off the end boards, landed on the stick of Nino Niederreiter, who shovelled it off to Namestnikov for an easy tap-in.

Then it was the Scheifele show, as the Jets got back-to-back markers from their alternate captain. The first came near the end of the first period on a hard-working shift from Gabe Vilardi.

He dug the puck off the sticks of two Devils players before dishing it to Connor at the top of the crease. The typical shooter then looked across-ice and found Scheifele all alone. He hammered it home for his 15th of the season, giving Winnipeg a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.

Scheifele got his 16th of the season on a power play 7:02 into the second period - a frame that saw the Jets maintain their goal and shot lead.

David Pastrnak did get one back for Boston on a mid-period power play, but Scheifele answered back in the third.

This time, however, it wasn't a goal, but rather a selfless assist, as he setup his running mate Connor for his 16th of the year on a sacrificial play that ended with Scheifele laying on the ground helmetless and the puck in the back of the Bruins' net.

Next, it was Gabe Vilardi who got in on the fun. He beat Jeremy Swayman cleanly on a perfect wrist shot just a couple minutes later. The goal was Vilardi's 12th of the year, while Connor picked up the lone assist.

Then, with Charlie McAvoy in the box for a high check to the head of Cole Perfetti, Alex Iafallo put home the 6-1 marker on a redirected Pionk point shot, making it a five-goal differential.

Things got ugly shortly thereafter, with three fights occurring in a span of three seconds.

David Gustafsson fought Trent Frederic, while Logan Stanley squared off with Mark Kastelic, before Adam Lowry and Nikita Zadorov threw down in the main event at centre ice.

“That’s what good teams do: we stick together," Scheifele said. "Good on Stan and Lows to get in there. We stick up for each other, we take care of each other. That’s what makes us a good team.”

The biggest issue was the mis-match between Gustafsson and Frederic - a player with 38 NHL fights to his name, while Gustafsson had never before dropped the mitts.

“I think it’s 50-50," Lowry said of Frederic's decision to square off with Gustafsson. "You can’t just place all of the onus on Trent. That’s unfair. It’s a tough spot. You get challenged to fight and you don’t want to say no. Looking back, I think it just could have been handled differently. It’s the game of hockey. It’s unfortunate. That’s really where we get upset. You don’t want to see a teammate hurt. You don’t want to see a teammate down on the ice with a head injury. So, I think that’s where the emotion comes into it. Some of the responsibility is on both of those guys. We’ll leave it at that.”

Mason Appleton and Nikita Chibrikov added two more tallies late in the third, piling on more damage to Swayman's night.

Hellebuyck finished the night with 23 saves on the 24 pucks he faced, while Swayman made just 27 stops on 35 shots.

For Chibrikov, it was his 2024-25 season debut on Tuesday, following his recall from the Moose earlier in the week. He finished the night with the goal, an assist and a drawn penalty. Brad Lambert was sent down to Manitoba in place of Chibrikov.

Next up for Winnipeg is the continuation of the four-game homestand, with Vegas the Montreal heading to Winnipeg for tests with the Jets on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. Winnipeg will then hit the road for a two-game California road trip next week.