It has been a bit of a slow start to the 2021-22 National Hockey League regular season for Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele of Kitchener, Ontario. However, on Friday night in an 8-4 Jets win over the New Jersey Devils, Scheifele was on fire as he collected his fourth career hat trick.
Scheifele had a four-point night, as he also added an assist. He opened the scoring at 1:52 of the first period from Neal Pionk and Blake Wheeler. Scheifele’s next point was an assist on the Jets’ game winning goal by Josh Morrissey of Calgary, Alberta at 15:26 of the second period to put the Jets up 5-4. Scheifele then scored his second goal of the game with six seconds left on the power play in the second period from Pionk and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to put the Jets up 6-4. Then at 9:36 of the third period, Scheifele registered his hat trick from Wheeler and Kyle Connor to put the Jets up 7-4.
Scheifele was one of two Canadians on the Jets to have a multi-point game. Pierre-Luc Dubois of Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts, Quebec had two assists.
Scheifele’s other hat tricks came in a 4-2 Jets win over the Montreal Canadiens on March 5, 2016, in a 5-2 Jets win over the Dallas Stars on November 2, 2017, and in a 5-1 Jets win over the Ottawa Senators on February 20, 2020. During the 2021-22 NHL season, Scheifele now has five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 17 games. He is a -2 with two penalty minutes, two power-play points, one game-winning goal, 37 shots on goal, 14 blocked shots, two hits, 14 takeaways and 12 giveaways. The game-winning goal came on November 13 in a 3-2 Jets win over the Los Angeles Kings.
With the win, the Jets improved to a record of 11 wins, eight regulation losses, and four losses in extra time for 26 points. They are tied for third place in the Central Division with the Dallas Stars.
