Jets’ Scheifele soaks up milestone moment in 4-1 win over Predators

Winnipeg Jets' Mark Scheifele (55) raises his stick to the crowd as he is announced as franchise point leader during first period NHL action against the Nashville Predators in Winnipeg on Saturday, October 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG — The often-stoic Mark Scheifele showed more emotion than usual after reaching an impressive milestone on Saturday.

The Jets assistant captain scored a power-play goal early in the first period of a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators, which made him the all-time leading scorer in Jets 2.0 history with 813 points.

“Yeah, an unbelievable pass by KC (Kyle Connor),” Scheifele said. “He’s good, isn’t he? He’s amazing. Obviously, I’m tremendously honoured. I’m still trying to catch another guy (Dale Hawerchuk). For that one, it will be cool.

“Obviously, I’m tremendously honoured. I wouldn’t 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’m very lucky about the guys I play with currently and who I played with in the past, and I owe it all to them.”

Hawerchuk, who coached Scheifele in junior, leads the Jets 1.0 in all-time points.

Scheifele passed former Jets captain Blake Wheeler to reach the top. The Canada Life Centre scoreboard showed a message from Wheeler congratulating his former teammate for passing him on the list.

“Hearing Wheels’ message was obviously pretty emotional,” Scheifele admitted. “Like I said before, he’s taught me so much. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. So, hearing him say that is tremendous and I’m excited to call him in the coming days.”

Scheifele also looked emotional on the bench after getting congratulated by everyone waiting for him there after the goal.

“Just all the smiling faces of all the brothers I play with every day,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. These are the guys we spend every single day with. We rely on them each and every day. I’m really lucky to be a part of this group.

“I have a lot of amazing friends — lifelong friends — so to see all the smiling faces and getting hugs from the guys means more than the world to me.”

Scheifele also gave a nod to the 14,309 fans, who gave him a standing ovation for reaching the milestone.

“That was pretty special,” said Scheifele, who scored his sixth goal of the season. “The fans here are incredible. They give us so much extra motivation. We really do have amazing fans and I’m lucky to be a part of such a tremendous organization, a tremendous community and I’m very, very honoured to be here.

“It’s very humbling and I’m very honoured to be in the position I am. Just very lucky.”

The Jets are lucky to have him.

“It’s obviously great to see him get it at home here, in front of the hometown crowd is awesome.,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel. “He’s been such a consistent player. He has such great offensive skills and instincts. That was a great play, a real highlight-reel goal that he did score. A great pass from (Connor). Nice to see him get it over and done with real quick.”

Scheifele’s teammates were obviously thrilled for him.

“We’re all happy for Sheif,” said Logan Stanley, who also scored. “He’s an unbelievable teammate and human, and it’s incredible to watch what he does every night.

“He usually scores nice ones, so it wasn’t surprising, but heck of a shot and great pass to him from KC.”

Scheifele, who was the Jets 2.0 first draft pick, also extended his goal-scoring streak to four games.

The fans also chanted Stanley’s name after his goal.

“I think it’s a first, so yeah, it felt good,” he said. “I’ll take it.”

Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter also scored for Winnipeg.

Michael Bunting replied for Nashville.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 18, 2025.

Jim Bender, The Canadian Press