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![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3665360_web1_CP175177833.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
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\nWinnipeg Jets Gabriel Vilardi (13), Josh Morrissey (44), Alex Iafallo (9), Kyle Connor (81) celebrate Mark Scheifele’s (55) goal against the Nashville Predators during first period NHL action in Winnipeg on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn unbelievable pass by KC (Kyle Connor). He\u2019s good, isn\u2019t he? He\u2019s amazing,\u201d said Scheifele, who is always quick to dish out verbal assists to his linemates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tremendously honoured. I wouldn\u2019t be here without the guys, especially the guy I went ahead of. He helped me throughout my career and he also gave me a lot of tap-ins, so I\u2019m very lucky about the guys I play with currently and that I played with in the past and I owe it all to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg has now won four straight games to improve to 4-1-0 on the year. Nashville falls to 2-2-2.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously great to see (Scheifele) get it at home here. In front of the hometown crowd is awesome,\u201d said Jets coach Scott Arniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been such a consistent player. He has such great offensive skills and instincts. That was a great play, a real highlight-reel goal. A great pass from KC. Nice to see him get it over and done with real quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had his best outing of the young season, stopping 30 of 31 shots he faced. The reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner was 64 seconds away from his first shutout but lost it due to some bad luck \u2014 Nashville\u2019s Michael Bunting banked a shot in off Jets forward Gustav Nyquist.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Toews recorded his first multi-point game since returning to the NHL by registering a pair of assists \u2014 and also hit a post \u2014 while Vlad Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter each chipped in with a goal and a helper.<\/p>\n
Logan Stanley had the other tally, already his second of the year which sets a new career high. The crowd celebrated his feat by chanting \u201cStanley, Stanley\u201d in unison \u2014 just as they did earlier in the contest when the 6-7 defenceman dropped the gloves with 6-6 Nashville forward Michael McCarron.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cI think it\u2019s a first, so yeah, it felt good, I\u2019ll take it,\u201d Stanley joked after the game.<\/p>\n Yeah, it was that kind of night at the downtown barn.<\/p>\n MAKING HIS MARK: Scheifele sure looks like a player who wants to go to the Olympics. He\u2019s been driving the bus for the Jets, now with points in all five games and nine in total (6G, 3A) to put him among the league leaders.<\/p>\n If he keeps this up, there\u2019s no way Team Canada brass can leave him off the club which will go to Milan in February.<\/p>\n After making local hockey history, Scheifele was greeted with a standing ovation by the appreciative crowd during the first television timeout.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was really special. The fans here are incredible. They give us so much extra motivation,\u201d said Scheifele.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really do have amazing fans. I am lucky to be a part of such a tremendous organization and tremendous community and I\u2019m very honoured to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n There was also a video message from good friend and former teammate Blake Wheeler, who had held the record of 812 points.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cThe day we knew was coming has come,\u201d Wheeler began.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember in 2018, when I broke the record, we got back to the bench and you were congratulating me and I let you know that I was going to hold onto this one for you for a little bit. And now that time has come.\u201d<\/p>\n Scheifele, who turns 33 next March and still has six more years on his contract, now has his sets sight on the 1.0 Jets record held for former junior coach and beloved mentor Dale Hawerchuk. He is 37 goals, 79 assists and 116 points from passing \u201cDucky\u201d in all three categories.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the matter of the 1,000 point benchmark, which Scheifele should eventually surpass.<\/p>\n POWER KILL: The penalty kill continues to be one of the biggest surprises of the season. Winnipeg went a perfect 4-for-4 while shorthanded on Saturday, including nearly a minute where Nashville had a 5-on-3 advantage, and they are now 21-for-22 on the year.<\/p>\n Only the Buffalo Sabres, who are 22-for-23, have a better rate in the league.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been great,\u201d said Stanley. \u201cYour best penalty killer has got to be your goalie and he has been. And we\u2019ve got lots of pressure and some veteran guys out there that know what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the penalties the Jets had to kill was a strange one. Josh Morrissey was called late in the second period for a rare \u201cplaying without a helmet\u201d infraction. Predators forward Filip Forsberg had delivered a big hit along the boards which caused Morrissey to lose his lid.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The NHL rule states he\u2019s required to immediately head off the ice. Instead, Morrissey jumped back into the play, which was quickly whistled down.<\/p>\n On the flipside, Winnipeg went 2-for-3 on the power play against the Predators and are now 5-for-15 on the year.<\/p>\n UNDER THE HOOD: The underlying numbers suggest the Jets weren\u2019t as solid as the final score indicated.<\/p>\n According to Natural Stat Trick, Nashville had a whopping 18 high-danger chances in all situations (even strength and special teams) compared to 12 for Winnipeg. The Predators also had 5.34 expected goals versus just 2.99 for the Jets.<\/p>\n All of this underscores how good Hellebuyck was, especially in the second period where the ice was severely tilted with Winnipeg making a parade to the penalty box. High-danger chances alone were 11-4 for the visitors in the middle frame, while shots on goal were 15-4.<\/p>\n \u201cI still don\u2019t think we\u2019ve played a solid 60 minutes yet,\u201d said Scheifele.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s very exciting. Even tonight, we came out great, obviously got an early goal on the power play and then they kind of turned the tides on us, started to buzz on us and got a couple power plays. There are still a lot of things to fix and there are always things to get better at, but we have a group that wants to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n KEY PLAY: Stanley\u2019s slapper early in the third gave the Jets some additional breathing room and essentially put this one to bed.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cIt\u2019s kind of weird when you have that much time, so just head down and hammer it,\u201d the towering defenceman said of his snipe.<\/p>\n THREE STARS<\/p>\n 1. WPG G Connor Hellebuyck: 30 saves<\/p>\n 2. WPG D Logan Stanley: 1 goal, 1 fight<\/p>\n 3. WPG C Mark Scheifele: 1 goal<\/p>\n EXTRA, EXTRA: Jets captain Adam Lowry joined his teammates for the first time this season during the morning skate, which is another step in his eventual return from offseason hip surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cYou notice him? I don\u2019t know if you noticed him. Six-foot-six in a yellow jersey,\u201d Arniel joked. \u201cBut yeah, that\u2019s day one. He\u2019ll be starting practice with us again.\u201d<\/p>\n The end of October remains the earliest possible timeline for a Lowry return, so we\u2019ll see how things develop over the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The Jets made one roster move on Saturday, calling up Brad Lambert from the Manitoba Moose. He joined forward Nikita Chibrikov and defenceman Colin Miller as the healthy scratches.<\/p>\n Veteran Nashville forward Jonathan Marchessault was a late scratch for the Predators due to a lower-body injury.<\/p>\n Winnipeg now hits the road for a one-game trip to Calgary on Monday night.<\/p>\n mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Mike McIntyre Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
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\nWinnipeg Jet Jonathan Toews’s (19) shot goes off the post as Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) watches the puck during first period NHL action in Winnipeg on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
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\nNashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) saves the shot from Winnipeg Jet Alex Iafallo (9) during first period NHL action in Winnipeg on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
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\nWinnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) saves the shot from Nashville Predator Luke Evangelista (77) during first period NHL action in Winnipeg on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
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\nWinnipeg Jet Nino Niederreiter (62) scores on Nashville Predator goaltender Juuse Saros (74) during first period NHL action in Winnipeg on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS
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\nWinnipeg Jet Dylan DeMelo (2) defends against Nashville Predator Cole Smith (36) as he attempts to knock in the rebound during first period NHL action in Winnipeg on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
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