Scheifele scores twice as Jets open season with victory over Rangers

WINNIPEG -A moment nearly 11 hours before game time seemed to set the tone for Mark Scheifele's night on Friday.
Just as he mentioned he would in his speech the night the Dale Hawerchuk statue was unveiled, he stopped at the corner of Hargrave and Dale Hawerchuk Way, and took a look at the statue as he arrived for morning skate.
"Lucky, the Hargrave light was red so I was able to look at it even more," Scheifele said. "I know Dale is watching over me and hopefully he's proud over that one."
Safe to say his former Ontario Hockey League coach, and Jets legend, would be proud of Scheifele's performance.
The 29-year-old scored twice to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers, sending the fans home from Canada Life Centre with a home opener victory.

"That's a big win against a good team," said Scheifele of the Rangers, who came in with a 2-0-0 record, including a 7-3 win over Minnesota on Thursday.
"We generated a lot of chances in the slot," said Scheifele. "Their goalie still made a bunch of big saves but, when it mattered, we put some home."
Sam Gagner netted the eventual game-winner with 4:25 remaining in regulation, before Scheifele added an insurance marker and Kyle Connor potted an empty netter.

In goal, Connor Hellebuyck was sensational, making 40 saves.
"That was a great team win tonight, and we needed everyone and we got everyone," Hellebuyck said. "It's a great building step and I think the character in this locker room is just going to continue to show and grow."
The speed of Winnipeg's top line was on full display for the game's opening tally 10:29 into the first. Nikolaj Ehlers won a race and battle for the puck below the goal line in the Rangers' zone. His backhand pass went by Kyle Connor before finding the tape of Scheifele, who wired it past Jaroslav Halak.
Scheifele now has a point in nine of his last 10 season openers.
Hellebuyck was a big reason why the Winnipeg lead stayed a 1-0 into the third period, as the 2020 Vezina Trophy winner was busy in the middle frame, turning away 21 shots from the Rangers. His final one came on a late power play chance for the opposition, as Hellebuyck stymied Chris Kreider on the doorstep.
"I was able to see them. Any rebound that I couldn't control the guys were there," said Hellebuyck. "It's not going to be the same game every night, and it's not going to be pretty every night. But with the team and the team win, you get efforts like that."

But 3:55 into the third, Hellebuyck's shutout bid was broken by Dryden Hunt. The Rangers forward took a spinning pass from Vincent Trocheck just below the right circle, and snuck it under the bar short side on the Jets goaltender to tie things at one.
Associate coach Scott Arniel - who ran the bench due to head coach Rick Bowness testing positive for COVID-19 in the middle of the afternoon - liked how his team rebounded from giving up the equalizer after a tough second period.
"When we started giving up odd-man rushes, quality chances against, that's kind of the lesson we need to learn, is that when it's a 1-1 game, 2-1 game, whatever it might be, we got to continue to play the same way," said Arniel. "What we did in the third, how we responded in the third after the second period, that's a good sign for us."

Winnipeg outshot New York 14-10 in the final period, with Gagner - playing in front of the hometown fans for the first time - coming up big in the final minutes. His line with David Gustafsson and Saku Maenalanen got on the forecheck to force a turnover, leading to Maenalanen finding Gagner in front. The veteran stayed with it, and chipped home a rebound to put the Jets in front.
"I've only been here for a short time, but you can see the passion from the fanbase and everyone's been really welcoming, from my teammates to the fans," said Gagner. "Regardless of what your role is or how much you're playing on a given night, you have to find ways to contribute and, certainly, a nice feeling to do that tonight and get a win."
With Rangers captain Jacob Trouba in the box for delay of game, Scheifele buried his second of the night by pounding a one-timer - off a nifty turn-around cross crease pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois - to give the Jets a 3-1 lead with 1:37 left in regulation.
Connor finished off the night with an empty net goal, and when the final buzzer sounded, the Jets were 1-0-0.
"The biggest thing is that we stumbled tonight, but we found a way to win a hockey game," said Arniel. "When we play the right way for hopefully three periods the next game instead of two, hopefully it's a little bit easier on our goaltender."