Scheifele’s hat trick propels Winnipeg Jets to 5-2 win in Toronto

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Peggy

Thanks to their star players, the Winnipeg Jets gave their fans an early Christmas present Monday afternoon, downing the Maple Leafs 5-2 in Toronto.

Toronto was the better team for the bulk of the opening period before the Jets earned the game’s first power play with just under five minutes to go in the first and their top-ranked unit cashed in.

Off a faceoff win, a Josh Morrissey point shot was tipped in front by Gabriel Vilardi, creating a big rebound that ricocheted to Kyle Connor, who buried it past Joseph Woll for his 20th goal of the season.

After a slow start, Winnipeg wound up outshooting Toronto 11-8 in the opening 20 minutes and carried their 1-0 lead into the second, where it didn’t take long for them to expand their lead.

Just over a minute into the period, Mark Scheifele blocked a shot near the Winnipeg blue line and the puck caromed into the neutral zone. Scheifele tracked it down and skated it into the Leafs’ end where he waited patiently for a hard-charging Connor to drive the net. Scheifele then slid a perfect pass that Connor steered into the goal for his second of the afternoon, giving Winnipeg a 2-0 lead.

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Not long after, Max Domi instigated a fight with Alex Iafallo (the first fighting major of Iafallo’s career), giving the Jets their second power play look of the day.

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The Leafs had the best scoring chance on the Winnipeg power play when Mitch Marner blocked a shot and tried to skate away from Neal Pionk for a breakaway but as Marner tried to begin a deke on Connor Hellebuyck, Pionk executed a textbook stick lift to knock the puck away.

A double-minor high stick penalty to Mason Appleton at the 4:16 mark of the period gave Toronto an excellent chance to get back into the game, and they took advantage thanks to their star players as an off-speed pass from Marner fooled the Jets before landing on the stick of John Tavares for a back-door tap-in.

The goal came during the first leg of the double-minor, giving Toronto two more minutes to try and draw level on the power play but the Jets killed it off to maintain the 2-1 lead.

With the Leafs still pushing to tie the game late in the second, Haydn Fleury went down awkwardly and clutched at his knee. He very slowly got to the bench with some help and had to leave the game, forcing the Jets to finish the game with five blueliners.

At the 3:27 mark of the third, Winnipeg’s top line got back to work. Gabriel Vilardi made a great play to knock down the puck in the Toronto end and corral it before sending a perfect back-door pass that Scheifele redirected past Woll to make it 3-1 with his 19th of the year.

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With a touch under 11 minutes left, a delay of game penalty sent Toronto back to the power play. Early in the man advantage look, the Jets got a shorthanded 2-on-1 but Iafallo was turned aside by Woll. Toronto wasn’t able to parlay that into anything though as the score stayed 3-1, but not for long as Winnipeg’s stars came through again.

With just over eight minutes left in the third, Scheifele found himself alone in front of the Toronto net and his initial try was stopped by Woll but he kept digging away and the puck eventually trickled over the goal line to make it 4-1.

Tavares got the Leafs back within two with 6:18 to go, burying a shot from the slot in transition for his second of the game.

With just over 2:30 to go, Woll went to the bench for an extra attacker but Toronto couldn’t generate much of a push through the Jets defence before Scheifele found the empty net with 21 seconds left to seal the win with a third period hat trick, the tenth of his career and second of the season.

Hellebuyck turned aside 23 shots to earn the win as the Jets enter the Christmas break in first place in the NHL with 51 points.

They will return to action Saturday when they host the Ottawa Senators.