The Winnipeg Jets are one of the NHL’s best teams at this point in the 2024-25 season. And on Monday night, they took on the NHL’s worst club in the San Jose Sharks. However, the disparity did not show itself on the ice. San Jose battled hard and pushed Winnipeg to overtime. However, Mark Scheifele prevented San Jose from skating away with a victory.
Scheifele scored the overtime-winning goal with seconds remaining in the extra frame. This gives the veteran forward 32 goals on the 2024-25 campaign. And more importantly, this is his 329th career goal. With this goal, he has surpassed Ilya Kovalchuk for the most goals in Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise history.
“I love it here. We have an amazing organization that starts with (Jets owner) Mark Chipman. It’s been an honor to play here. The guys I’ve played with, the core group that’s been here for a long time. They’re friends for life. That’s what makes it so special. Great group of guys, a good hockey team, obviously Connor Hellebuyck in the pipes makes it pretty easy. It’s a fantastic place here, and I’m honored to be a Winnipeg Jet,” Scheifele told Amazon Prime Sports reporter Shane Hindy on Monday night.
Mark Scheifele extends Jets’ win streak to 10 games
The Jets entered this game on quite the hot streak. They won eight straight games entering the 4 Nations break. And coming out if it, they made nine in a row with a shootout victory over the St. Louis Blues. On Monday, they looked to make it 10 in a row.
However, things got off on the wrong foot for the Jets. San Jose came out with an intensity and clearly wanted to win this game. Before the end of the first period, the Sharks were rewarded. William Eklund opened the scoring with his 12th goal of the season at 15:07 in the opening frame.
The Sharks kept Winnipeg out of the scoresheet in the first two periods. Goalie Viteck Vanecek made some key saves to keep his team in it. Eventually, though, the talented Jets offense broke through. Defenseman Josh Morrissey broke San Jose hearts with a goal in the final seconds of the third. This goal forced overtime in Manitoba.
It seemed as if these teams would head to the shootout. But the Jets had possession in San Jose’s zone as the clock ticked away. Nikolaj Ehlers took a shot that was initially saved, but Scheifele put home the rebound to claim victory.
The Jets are now 41-14-3 on the 2024-25 campaign. They are likely to win the Central Divison this season at this rate. There is still a lot of hockey left before that happens. In the short term, though, they will look to make it 11 straight wins as they take on the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
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