Scheifele sets franchise scoring mark, Jets rally past Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Mark Scheifele became the franchise’s all-time points leader for the Winnipeg Jets, who rallied from down four goals for their sixth straight win, 5-4 in a shootout against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Saturday.

“Definitely not how we drew it up,” said Scheifele, who also scored in the shootout. “But honestly, just resiliency. We didn’t have to do it in one shift. We didn’t have to do it in one period. We had lots of time. Just resilience.”

Scheifele had a goal and three assists to reach 933 career points, surpassing Dale Hawerchuk’s mark of 929 for first in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise history. Scheifele’s 379th goal also tied Hawerchuk for the franchise’s all-time goal record.

The assists gave Scheifele 554 for his career, moving him past Thomas Steen (553) for the franchise’s all-time lead in that category.

“It means a lot,” Scheifele said. “It’s pretty incredible. Never thought I’d be here, but honestly, just so blessed to play with the players I’ve played with over my career. Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little. All these guys. I wouldn’t be there without all those guys. Just very blessed.”

Gabriel Vilardi scored the tying goal with 1:13 remaining in the third period and had an assist, and Connor also had a goal and an assist for the Jets (10-8-3), who trailed 4-0 late in the second period. Stuart Skinner allowed three goals on eight shots in the first period before being replaced by Nico Daws, who stopped 12 of 13 shots the rest of the way.

Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist, and Frank Nazar and Anton Frondell also scored for the Blackhawks (5-13-2), who have lost seven of eight. Teuvo Teravainen and Sam Rinzel each had two assists, and Spencer Knight made 27 saves.

“At some point, we got on our heels too much,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought early in the game, the first half of the game, we checked really, really well, didn't give much up, but doing it on our toes. We weren't sitting back. We dictated where the puck went. I thought we ended plays in the O-zone, in the neutral zone. And then I just thought we got away from that, and we got on our heels way too much.”

Scheifele cut it to 4-1 at 16:05 of the second period, tapping in a pass from Morrissey, who moved down the left side and fed the puck in front from the goal line.

Connor made it 4-2 at 18:01, taking a pass in front from Scheifele, who took the puck away from Knight in back of the net. Knight’s goalie stick became stuck in the end board.

“It’s never happened to me” Knight said. “I’ve seen it happen before. That was the first time it has ever happened to me. It was stuck, and you don’t really know what to do.”

Cole Perfetti’s power-play goal 55 seconds into the third period cut it to 4-3. Scheifele made a backhand pass from behind the net, and Perfetti put it in after Vilardi got a touch.

Vilardi then tied it 4-4 at 18:47, putting in a pass from Scheifele at the front of the net.

“There was a lot said after the first (period),” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “Not really repeatable. Obviously the second goal got us close. We know they’ve had some struggles, and our mentality was kind of like we did in the second: get it deep, get after them, make them defend. When you put some pressure on them, put them on their heels, now all of a sudden there may be doubt sliding in.

“We went through the exact same thing. It’s a hard stretch when you run through those and I just like the way our group -- we’ve been through it recently -- so it wasn’t a panic situation. We just went out and played our game.”

Tyler Bertuzzi gave Chicago a 1-0 lead at 1:48 of the first period, a wrist shot from the slot after taking a pass from Oliver Moore on the left wing.

Frondell extended it to 2-0 at 9:07. Jets defenseman Neal Pionk’s backhand pass from behind the net was picked off in the right face-off circle by Teravainen, who put the puck toward the net. Frondell redirected it on off the post.

Bedard’s power-play goal with four seconds remaining in the period pushed it to 3-0. Rinzel’s slap shot from the blue line caromed off the end boards and was retrieved by Patrick Kane behind the net. Kane passed it out to Bedard, who scored from the left face-off dot into the open net with Skinner out of position.

Nazar also scored on the power play to make it 4-0 at 14:44. Teravainen passed to Nazar from the left-circle, and he redirected the puck from in front.

NOTES: The Jets became the second team in NHL history to record multiple four-goal comeback wins over a 12-day span, following the Florida Panthers (April 2-5, 2022, and Nov. 12-21, 2019). Winnipeg rallied from 4-0 down to win 5-4 in overtime at Montreal on Nov. 3. … Bertuzzi left early in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Blashill did not have an update. … Kane assisted on Bedard’s goal to reach 1,410 career points and pass Hawerchuk (1,409) for 23rd place on the NHL’s all-time list.